By Paige Fry
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A 26-year-old Chicago woman is accused of taking the photo of slain Officer Ella French off a memorial to her, throwing it in the trash and later posting pictures of it on Twitter, prosecutors said at her bond hearing Thursday.
Anna Kochakian, of the Uptown neighborhood, was arrested about 10 a.m. Wednesday after the Illinois State Police obtained an arrest warrant for criminal damage to property – defacement of a police memorial, authorities said. Kochakian appeared in court Thursday before Judge Charles Beach II, who gave her a $15,000 D-bond.
French was fatally shot Aug. 7 and her partner was seriously wounded after they conducted a traffic stop in the West Englewood neighborhood.
Around 5:30 p.m. Aug. 19, a state police protective services unit trooper on a routine foot patrol at the James R. Thompson Center was alerted that a police memorial honoring French was torn down, crumpled and thrown into a trash can at a Chicago Transit Authority “L” platform, state police said.
Kochakian was arrested using the handcuffs of French’s partner, Officer Carlos Yanez Jr., state police said.
In court, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said surveillance video captured Kochakian walking around the atrium and two troopers also noticed her. She approached the memorial, reached over the barrier and grabbed French’s photo.
One of the troopers then saw Kochakian walk away from the memorial toward the CTA station inside the Thompson Center, Murphy said.
Video footage captured her throwing something in a trash can and getting on a train afterward, Murphy said.
https://twitter.com/TomAhernCPD/status/1491547757483630606 https://twitter.com/CPD1617Scanner/status/1428891836588900356
Investigators found that Kochakian had been in the Thompson Center earlier that day to renew her license, Murphy said. They also found video that she posted on her Twitter profile under the username “GardenCommunist” of the person filming walking up to the memorial, grabbing the photo and crumpling it up.
The “GardenCommunist” profile also posted another tweet about an earlier attempt to kick the memorial stand down but that didn’t pan out, Murphy said. The same account also posted a picture of the French photo in a CTA garbage can with a “satisfied emoji.”
Kochakian does not have any criminal background, Murphy said.
“This was not a spur of the moment act,” Murphy said, adding that this occurred on the same day as French’s funeral. “This was designed to hurt. There’s no question about that.”
Murphy did not offer an exact motive for the crime.
Kochakian’s public defender said she has a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and is currently working on a master’s degree. She has lived in Illinois for the past nine years and is employed at a Lincoln Park area tavern.
Kochakian’s next court date is scheduled for March 2.
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