dedicated to Det. Joseph Airhart Jr. Star #20931 - Gold Star Park

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS:

Wake: Sunday, November 9th
Cage Funeral Home
7651 S. Jeffrey
3:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Funeral: Monday, November 10th
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
5850 S. Woodlawn Ave
1100 AM
______________________________________

Det. Joseph M. Airhart Jr. Class of 29 NOV 1982

21 OCT 1955 - 03 Nov 2008

Was shot and then held hostage for hours during a FBI/CPD raid of a wanted bank robber's residence.


ORIGINAL BACKGROUND STORY ON THE SHOOTING -

Life in prison for man who shot cop during raid

Daniel Salley, a former tax preparer turned convicted bank robber, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for critically shooting a Chicago police officer and holding him hostage.

In addition to the life sentence, Salley will serve 132 more years on 14 other counts, including the attempted murder of Detective Joe Airhart.

"Considering the array of weaponry you possessed, I'm concerned that if you were ever set free, you would hurt people," U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen told Salley.

The sentence came after an emotional two hour hearing in which Airhart's sisters, brother and former police partner testified about how the shooting has totally incapacitated the highly decorated former detective.

"Salley, you've aged us all," said Airhart's younger sister Denise.

On August 28, 2001, Airhart led a joint party of Chicago police officers and FBI agents into a South Loop apartment to arrest Salley, the prime suspect in two successive armed robberies of a South Side bank.

Fleeing into the apartment's back room, Salley shot Airhart in the head, shattering the left side of his skull and penetrating his brain. For the next two hours, Salley used Airhart as leverage with law enforcement, denying him crucial medical aid. Salley eventually surrendered.

Airhart's family and colleagues from the Chicago Police Department packed the 14th-floor courtroom in the Dirksen Federal building, overflowing the jury box in support of Airhart, now on life support. They expressed little emotion as Andersen handed down the sentence.

Although Andersen said he had made up his mind about the sentence well before Thursday's hearing, he listened raptly to testimony and victims' statements from Airhart's family.

The most vivid of these was a video shot just weeks ago which illustrates the starkness of the everyday life of Joe Airhart.

The tape showed a man in a hospital gown lying in a specially padded bed, his legs wrapped in thick white padding and his mouth twitching. The 50-year-old Airhart cannot speak, eat or walk, and relies on a feeding tube and ventilator to keep him alive. The slight movements of Airhart's mouth were actually abnormal, and were later determined to be caused by an infection. Continuing health problems are nothing new for Airhart, whose sisters estimated he has made "dozens" of visits to the emergency room over the past 5 years, with hospital stays ranging from hours to months.

The homemade video showed where seven different nurses take turns working 12-hour shifts to care for Airhart, before panning over a literal basement-full of medical supplies

Wracked by tears, Denise Airhart described how Joe had shoveled snow for their elderly parents and had been the consummate older brother.

"He gave us security, and you took that from us," she said,addressing Salley.

Airhart, a 19-year veteran of the CPD who would have retired last year, loved to travel and had made it his goal to set foot on every continent. Other victims' testimony, including statements from his sister, younger brother, and daughter, recalled Airhart's smile, aspirations, and commitment to family.

As each statement was read, many addressing him by name, Salley made unflinching eye contact with Airhart's family members.

On crutches and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Salley showed little remorse, and claimed an FBI agent had actually shot Joe Airhart.

Disdaining three court-appointed attorneys, Salley represented himself as he had done throughout almost 5 years of legal proceedings. Attorney Richard Kling was allowed to act as his standby attorney, though the two did not consult, and Kling rarely spoke.

In a rambling diatribe that intertwined a "government conspiracy" against him with empathy for the Airhart family, Salley said he would be content to spend the rest of his life in prison because new evidence would eventually exonerate him.

"God knows what happened, and I believe God will miraculously reveal it to us," Salley said.

A judge declared him incompetent to stand trial in 2003, but medical experts eventually ruled Salley was fit.

In 2002, the Chicago Police Department honored Airhart with the Police Medal, the department's highest award.

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[PleiadianDragon]

THE MANY - THE FALLEN - NOT DISTANT LANDS- NOT SOMEONE ELSE S NEIGHBORHOODS

WE KEEP FIGHTING EACH OTHER - WE WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED -

WHY DO WE PAY MORE TO BE ENTERTAINED THEN TO BE SAFE IN OUR STREETS AND IN OUT COUNTRY?

Look at the disparity of income of law enforcement , military and community services personnel.....................­..............................­..compared to ATHLETES, MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, ETC

[daughterCPD]

Thank you for honoring the policemen/women who have given their lives for us. Det, Airhart was an honorable man and loving. He will be in my heart forever and his legacy will continue. Thanks to the Chicago Police Department- Detective Division.

[blueliner74]

rip brother....