DeKalb man shot by police told auto dealership employee ‘he was thinking about brutally murdering someone’

DeKALB – About midday on Oct. 23, a DeKalb man walked into a local auto dealership, and told an employee who tried to sell him a car that “he was thinking about brutally murdering someone,” court records show.

Moments later, Charles M. Tripicchio, 32, allegedly brandished two 8-inch-long pocket knives with 3.5-inch blades and charged at multiple employees inside Brian Bemis Toyota of DeKalb dealership, 1890 Sycamore Road. Police arrived about 12:31 p.m. and shot him after he refused to back down, authorities have said.

Tripicchio, who’d been out of jail on court-ordered pretrial release supervision since Oct. 10 on a separate criminal matter, wasn’t even supposed to be in DeKalb County at the time of the attack, according to a judge’s orders.

DeKalb Deputy Police Chief Jason Leverton said he wanted to thank the community for its support over the past week as investigators try to piece together what happened. He issued his own words of support to the dealership’s employees.

“We’ve had a number of people checking in on us. None of us were injured, but we really do appreciate the community’s consideration,” Leverton said. “Our thoughts and hearts go out to the employees there. They certainly endured a lot that day and they’ve been very resilient. But we obviously want to be there for them, and we applaud their efforts to get us on scene and stop things before they got worse.”

Police announced multiple felony charges against Tripicchio on Thursday. He’s been in police custody while receiving treatment at a Rockford hospital since, and is expected to survive to face charges. Once released from the hospital, he’ll be booked at DeKalb County Jail to await court proceedings.

Tripicchio is charged with armed violence, a Class X felony; attempted armed robbery, aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and three misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault. If convicted of the Class X felony, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

Man accused in stabbing wasn’t supposed to be in DeKalb County: records

Police haven’t identified a motive as of Thursday, Leverton said. At the time of the stabbing attack at the dealership, Tripicchio was out of jail on pretrial release pending domestic violence charges from an unrelated Oct. 9 attack on a woman, according to court records.

On Oct. 9, DeKalb police responded to a residence on the city’s south side for a report of “domestic trouble,” police wrote in Oct. 10 DeKalb County court filings. A woman told police Tripicchio attacked her, put her in handcuffs and struck her multiple times. She said she retaliated in self defense and punched him so he’d stop hitting her, court records show. The woman suffered wounds to her neck, wrist, hands and back, police wrote.

Tripicchio was arrested and charged with felony unlawful restraint and two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery. He spent the night in DeKalb County Jail and was released by Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick Oct. 10 after a pretrial release hearing over prosecutor’s petition to detain him. The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office filing had argued Tripicchio’s release would endanger the public.

Tripicchio was not supposed to be in DeKalb County according to Buick’s Oct. 10 order, records show. Conditions of his pretrial release included he stay at a home in Elgin, return to DeKalb County for court appearances only, and only could leave the Elgin residence for work or medical reasons.

When asked if Tripicchio knew anyone at the dealership, Leverton said no.

“He has no direct correlation to the dealership,” Leverton said Thursday. “For whatever reason, he was intent on getting a vehicle one way or the other. So I think his purpose for being there was really related to just wanting a vehicle.”

New details emerge in dealership attack

New details of the violent attack emerged Thursday, including clarifying earlier information released by city officials at the scene Oct. 23 that suggested multiple employees were stabbed. One employee suffered a single stab wound to the hand while attempting to defend against Tripicchio’s attacks, according to court records.

Leverton said while others did not have stab wounds, multiple employees were assaulted by Tripicchio.

“He assaulted several people with a knife, but that’s different than stabbing people with a knife,” Leverton said.

DeKalb police were called to the dealership about 12:25 p.m. for “an upset customer refusing to leave the business,” police wrote in court filings Oct. 31. An employee later told police that while attempting to sell Tripicchio a car, he told her he was “thinking about brutally murdering someone and that he hypothetically could have killed her” inside the showroom where they stood, court records state.

Tripicchio then attempted tp purchase a car from a different employee. During that interaction, Tripicchio allegedly told the employee he was in danger, and that if he didn’t give Tripicchio the car keys, he would kill that employee and their family, police wrote in court filings.

Tripicchio followed the employee into the dealership’s office, walked behind the employee-only counter, brandished the two knives and swung them toward one employee, cutting another one’s hand, according to court records. He swung at a third employee, and then used one of the knives to break two interior glass windows inside the dealership. The damages cost more than $500, according to court records.

DeKalb police arrived within five minutes and “confronted the individual, who refused to drop the knife and instead advanced,” according to a DeKalb Police Department news release. Police shot Tripicchio after he refused to comply with orders to put down the knife, authorities said.

Leverton said DeKalb officers are trained regularly to respond to scenarios that could involve using force to de-escalate, including firing a weapon.

“The large majority of the time, arrests involve no force at all, it’s just verbal commands,” Leverton said. “But obviously things escalate sometimes. ... So we really try to train to every level all the way up and including deadly force. The saying is ‘We prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.’ And we always want to overcome resistance with the lowest amount of force possible, but obviously sometimes people put us in situations where that doesn’t happen.”

Leverton said Tripicchio was shot multiple times, but said he didn’t know the exact number. Leverton said he expects Tripicchio to remain hospitalized for at least another week.

Two DeKalb police officers have been placed on administrative duty, meaning they won’t do field work, pending an investigation by Illinois State Police into their use of force actions.

This story was updated at 6:13 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2024, with more information from DeKalb police and DeKalb County court records. Additional updates could occur.