Teenager accused in death of retired police officer placed under house arrest in car theft case

16-year-old Lazarius Watt is charged as an adult in the shooting death of retired police officer Larry Neuman

CHICAGO – A teenager facing charges in adult court for the premeditated shooting death of a retired police officer was under judicial house arrest stemming from an earlier car theft and subsequent chase, a court heard Tuesday.

A juvenile court judge ordered electronic monitoring of 16-year-old Lazarius Watt last August following charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and a chase on Interstate 290 two months earlier. He was placed on house arrest in February after numerous electronic monitoring violations.

In March, Watt was charged with car theft and was scheduled to be arraigned in juvenile court later Tuesday.

The teenager is one of two people police believe are responsible for the death of 73-year-old Larry Neuman. The shooting occurred last Thursday morning in the 4300 block of West Monroe Street in the Garfield Park neighborhood. Neuman retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2010 after working for several years as a bomb technician. At the time of his death, he was working for the Transportation Security Administration.

Watt was arrested on Sunday. On Tuesday, in adult court, Judge Antara Nath Rivera ordered him held in custody pending trial. His next court date was scheduled for July 16.