Tattoos have become very popular for at least the last decade. It seems like almost everyone has one these days. But if you may ever commit a crime, you will want to think twice.
A man who lit a Chicago Police Department vehicle on fire during riots in 2020 after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer has been sentenced to three years. What stood out about this case is that the defendant, Timothy O’Donnell, wore a mask while he committed the crime. What also stood out, and identified him, was his tattoo.
The crime took place in May 2020, and [p]rosecutors charged O’Donnell on June 2, 2020, after investigators were able to identify him because of the “PRETTY” tattoo on his neck. A witness provided a video which showed O’Donnell “wearing a clown mask, holding a lit object and placing it in the gas tank of the CPD vehicle,” reports the Chicago Sun Times.
Upon sentencing O’Donnell, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood said “[h]e set a car on fire in the middle of a crowd. He did it in a way that was intended to target law enforcement. He did it in a way that could have caused serious injury or death. Fortunately, it did not.” O’Donnell has already spent two years behind bars so he won’t have much time left to serve.
Before he was sentenced, O’Donnell apologized “to those whose businesses were left in utter ruin.” He also said he was sorry “if I hurt Chicago’s character in any way,” and that he was “ashamed of myself that I became involved in the problem and not part of the solution.”
There were a lot of other people rioting the day O’Donnell committed his crime. He was the one who stood out, however, due to his mask. And if he wore the mask to hide his identity, he is not very smart. Did he receive a fair sentence?
