Steve Held
Steve Held (he/him) is an investigative journalist. Before co-founding Unraveled, he uncovered corruption in local politics for The People’s Fabric. He oversees data reporting and FOIA projects at Unraveled.
Stories by Steve Held
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North Riverside police decline to charge off-duty Forest Park cop who pointed gun, dragged woman from car
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident involving Lieutenant Daniel Miller. The cop, who also owns Stars and Stripes Sports Lounge in Indian Head Park, has been involved in at least two deaths on duty.
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Chicago cop who killed Anthony Alvarez in 2021 engaged in fatal unreported police chase last year, new lawsuit alleges
Attorneys say they have evidence showing Evan Solano, who chased and shot Alvarez in the back, initiated a deadly “ghost” pursuit that killed 29-year old Eliseo Maya late at night on the Northwest Side in February 2025.
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Border Patrol agents ignored orders to end car chase before gassing Chicago neighborhood
DHS claimed federal agents intentionally hit a fleeing vehicle to try to stop the driver in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood last October—but videos of the 18-minute high-speed pursuit show they actually blew a tire and crashed after ignoring a supervisor’s commands to end the chase.
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Civil rights stories removed from Border Patrol’s website during Black History Month
Historical accounts of women, Black men, and the agency’s deployment against segregationists in the sixties have disappeared from the official Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website.
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Identified: the El Paso BORTAC crew rampaging through the Midwest
One violent duo in particular, U.S. Border Patrol agents Michael Sveum (EZ-2) and Edgar Vazquez (EZ-17), have been frequently seen alongside former commander-at-large Greg Bovino terrorizing crowds with chemical weapons in Chicago and the Twin Cities.
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Cook County State’s Attorney has “taken no action whatsoever” against feds, new lawsuit alleges
The suit seeks the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate potentially unlawful conduct by federal agents in Illinois.
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Police accountability commission under fire: “You have state power—fucking use it.”
Chicagoans shared accounts of Chicago police helping ICE and Border Patrol agents at a public listening session they criticized as long overdue.
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CPD leaders knew cop proposed hiring hitman to kill fellow detective, new federal lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit alleges an officer faced years of violent abuse and threats at the hands of another detective while top brass and city officials have refused to investigate or discipline him.
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What happened to Silverio Villegas González
Immigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was quickly disproven by videos captured by witnesses.
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Eyes on the heartland
A vast network of new license plate cameras has exploded across Illinois in recent years—paid for by state grants to fight retail crime. With the federal government clamoring for more information on people’s movements, how worried should we be about leaving our privacy in the hands of Flock Safety?
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DEA agent used Illinois cop’s Flock license plate reader password for immigration enforcement searches
A federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent on a Chicago area task force used Palos Heights Detective Todd Hutchinson’s login credentials to perform unauthorized searches this past January. Group chat screenshots obtained via public records request show the detective and the feds discussing the incident.
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Chicago police, suburban departments seen assisting ICE during chaotic immigration enforcement blitz
Despite official claims to the contrary, federal agents separated families with crowd control support from local police.
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The 15th floor
Inside immigration court in Chicago, where expedited removal has now hit the “sanctuary city” thousands of miles away from the border.
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Suspensions issued to cops who killed Dexter Reed over pattern of violating constitutional rights
Investigations into four other traffic stops involving the tactical officers who shot and killed Dexter Reed last year outline more details of their campaign of terror against drivers on the West Side.
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Exposed: White nationalist group responsible for hate spree across Chicagoland
Members of the Windy City Active Club include a USPS worker, a recent finance grad from DePaul, and a Polish American tied to other hate groups.
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Cop who shot and killed Dexter Reed quits amid investigations
Alexandra Giampapa was one of four Chicago police officers who fired at Reed in a hail of 96 bullets at a traffic stop last year. Now she’s a cop in Ohio.
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STRIPPED: The Chicago cops who lost their badges in 2024
Officers accused of domestic violence, drug/alcohol abuse, and lying top the list
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Chicago cop faces firing over vehicle pursuit that led to death of innocent motorist
Superintendent Snelling recently moved to terminate Officer Michael Spilotro III for his role in a tragedy that garnered little attention in 2023. Spilotro and his rookie partner violated multiple department policies in pursuit of a stolen vehicle that crashed into several others, killing 25-year-old Venezuelan migrant Angel Eduardo Alvarez Montesinos.
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Abusive cop named in whistleblower suit convicted of assault
Detective Marco Torres, the subject of a suit against the city filed by another police officer accusing the department of covering up domestic violence, was sentenced to one year of probation and electronic monitoring.
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Chicago’s massive DNC cop city included over 135 outside police departments
Recently obtained contracts between CPD and other Illinois law enforcement agencies illustrate precisely how dissent was crushed at the national political convention.
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We ain’t dead yet
What we need from you to continue our independent reporting under the Trump regime—and what you can do to plug in here in Chicago
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Cop who killed Anthony Alvarez training new recruits
Evan Solano, now a CPD field training officer, avoided termination in 2022 after chasing Alvarez and shooting him in the back.