Man charged in ‘reign of terror’ goes on trial: ‘Crime spree unlike anything McHenry has seen’

A Lake Villa man drove off in his Jaguar from a party and went on a four-hour “reign of terror” in McHenry after a woman turned down his advances, prosecutors said Monday in opening arguments in the trial of Nicholas Lopardo.

McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said Lopardo, committed “a crime spree unlike anything the community of McHenry has seen before.”

The county’s top prosecutor said the series of events kicked off at nearly 1 a.m. on March 31, 2023, after a woman declined Lopardo’s offer to walk her home from a friend’s house. Lopardo, 27, hopped into his Jaguar, shot four rounds from a .357 magnum revolver out his window into the ground and drove off, Freese said.

Freese said Lopardo then allegedly shot at and struck two police vehicles and the vehicle of a woman delivering newspapers; led police on a chase through McHenry down Green Street and into a residential area; stole a black SUV; and shot at and threw rocks at residences.

He was apprehended shortly after walking up to an officer’s vehicle and asking, “Who did it?” Freese said, adding the officer reported that Lopardo appeared dirty and disheveled. The firearm believed to have been used in the alleged spree was found in the yard of a residence near a child’s water table, she said.

Charges against Lopardo, 27, include three counts of attempted first-degree murder, which are Class X felonies, as well as aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied building, possession of a stolen vehicle and stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the indictment in McHenry County court. A conviction on a Class X felony is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The trial is expected to involve 50 witnesses, multiple crime scenes, 911 calls and video from security and surveillance cameras. It is being heard by Judge Tiffany Davis rather than a jury.

Lopardo’s attorney, Robert Ritacca, said in his opening statements there is no proof it was Lopardo who shot the gun, no DNA or fingerprints and no gun powder residue detected on Lopardo. Ritacca also said there are no witnesses who will say Lopardo was driving the black SUV in which the bullets allegedly were shot from.

Ritacca said that night there was a party involving alcohol and cocaine, and that the judge would find the witnesses are not credible and Lopardo not guilty. Ritacca said 911 was called because “a party got out of hand” and there was a domestic altercation, not because Lopardo shot a gun.

Ritacca also said that Lopardo at about 4 a.m., left his car and “wandered.” Ritacca said the judge will hear testimony from the officer who arrested Lopardo that morning that Lopardo was “disoriented and unresponsive” when asked where he was going.

In later testimony Monday, Zach Leu said when Lopardo arrived at his house the day before Lopardo said he had been up for two days drinking and doing cocaine. Leu said Lopardo arrived at about 10 a.m. and was already drunk and that they drank beer, whiskey and vodka throughout the day. Later in the afternoon Leu’s wife at the time, Brittany Leu, testified she drove Lopardo to a house in Mundelein. He went inside and when he came out showed her a gun inside a gift bag that said, “Happy Birthday.” Zach Leu also testified that Lopardo brought the gun and more cocaine back to the house.

When a neighbor came over later in the day, Lopardo was hitting on her and she was not interested, the Leus and the neighbor testified. Lopardo was told to stop bothering the woman and became angry. Zach Leu said when Brittany left to walk the woman home, Lopardo left his house with no shoes or jacket, but had an open bottle of whiskey.

Zach Leu said he saw Lopardo crack his window and shoot the gun three or four times into the ground and leave. Brittany Leu said she then pulled out her phone, hid and called 911. The neighbor said she ran into her basement and hid until police arrived.

Ritacca questioned the women as to whether they saw Lopardo shoot the gun. They said no, but they heard it come from the direction of his vehicle.

The trial is set to continue Tuesday morning. Because it’s a bench trial a judge, not a jury, will decide Lopardo’s fate.