Shahroon Augustine has a track record with law enforcement.
A Pakistani man who was arrested after he was found trespassing a protected Chicago water plant that alerted FBI and Homeland security has gone missing after being released on his own recognizance.
According to reports, the Pakistani national named Shahroon Augustine trespassed restricted area of Eugene Sawyer Water Purification Plant with a duffle bag that contained his Pakistani passport.
He was apprehended and was charged with trespassing only to later go missing.
Richard Schak, a former Chicago Police official who launched the criminal justice program at National Louis University said, “If our water supply isn’t vigorously protected, we as a society could have real trouble.”
“I hope it doesn’t fall through the cracks because it could indicate someone that’s looking, casing, trying to find something that’s vulnerable,” he says. “He could be an innocent guy that got into the wrong spot, but he could also be the worst type of person that we’re dealing with.”
According to CBS Chicago, Augustine is believed to have lived in Palatine and has previously courted arrest on drug charges while in Wisconsin.
The paper also reported that the Palatine police had registered a case against Augustine last year for misdemeanor after he was arrested with an ax in the waistband of his pants and a gym bag containing an expandable baton, duct tape and more.
The court had sentenced him to 10 days in jail.
This time, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and Homeland Security were notified after he allegedly broke into the secured fresh water purification plant.
The trespasser was released on bail on his own recognizance, provided he appear in court. But he never came to the court and a warrant was issued against him. Three months later, he pleaded guilty and was re-sentenced to court supervision in late October.
Department of Water Management spokesperson said due to security reasons he cannot discuss more on how Augustine entered the restricted area, but he confirmed no “critical areas,” were breached.
The spokesperson said, “The city regards it as a serious offense to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” He also said that the department is looking into the incident seriously to make sure that no such incidents recur.
Schak, the former Chicago police official was quoted by CBS Chicago saying: “If our water supply isn’t vigorously protected, we as a society could have real trouble. “I mean, if the power grid goes out, we’ve got problems and we know we’ve been through blackouts and everything else. But there’s only so much bottled water to go around until we have trouble.”