Crime and Courts

A Crystal Lake man accused of setting campaign signs on fire the morning polls opened in the 2022 primary election pleaded guilty Tuesday to striking a corrections officer in McHenry County jail.

A felon with a “lengthy criminal history” pleaded guilty Monday to unlawful possession of cocaine and was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison.

The sexual assaults allegedly occurred in both unincorporated Kendall County and Aurora, according to a news release from the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office.

A Sterling woman has pleaded guilty to mob action and been sentenced to probation in connection with a December 2024 home invasion in Sterling.

Joliet Police arrested a previously convicted child sex offender March 25 after a suspicious incident at the Joliet Park District in February.

A Glendale Heights woman has been charged with driving under the influence of cannabis in a 2024 crash in Addison that killed a truck driver.

A former Carroll County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with reckless homicide and destroying evidence in connection with the July death of 18-year-old Jackson Kradle of Mount Carroll.

A Joliet man allegedly fired off gunshots at a family party that left three people wounded following an argument with a man who disparaged his leather pants, prosecutors said.

A former Woodstock man pleaded guilty Monday to an attempted Harvard home invasion and was sentenced to four years in prison.

A Whiteside County judge has ruled that enough evidence exists to move forward with a criminal case that accuses a Sterling man of setting an October fire that destroyed a Galt home.

A woman accused of causing a disturbance at a business Saturday and pepper-spraying Addison police officers who were trying to subdue her is facing several charges.

Pre-trial release has been denied for a Chicago man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase, prosecutors said.

A Kane County judge decided that a St. Charles businessman was in good enough physical shape to withstand a trial and denied a defense motion Monday to delay the trial.

District 155 candidate Walter A. Moist IV has been convicted of felony marijuana possession as well as misdemeanor disorderly conduct and battery, McHenry County court records show. What does he say about it?

Pre-trial release was denied for two Naperville individuals accused of robbing a Lisle convenience store at knifepoint and attempting to rob a woman at a Naperville bank, prosecutors said.

Police said man shot in stomach has life-threatening wound. Two women released from hospital after being hit by stray gunfire.

A motion was granted Thursday to deny pre-trial release for a Chicago man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen Toyota 4Runner, prosecutors said.

A Mokena resident won back more than $100,000 that was lost in an overseas cryptocurrency scam thanks to a Mokena police detective and Will County prosecutors.

A DuPage County jury on Thursday found a DeKalb man guilty of shooting a man in the face during his dinner break from work in 2021, prosecutors said.

Richard Rowland of Crystal Lake continued to claim his innocence of child sex assault, but was sentenced to 36 years in prison. A statement from the victim, read in cout, said he claimed his actions were “in the name of the Lord.”

An Elgin man pleaded guilty Friday to possessing more than two kilos of heroin found inside a lunchbox during a traffic stop in Algonquin and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A major bust in Lockport has led to 16 felony charges filed against man accused of possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and AR-15 rifles, one of which is a “ghost” or unserialized version of the rifle, records show.

Alexander Vinson-Ishmon, 24, was ready to plead guilty Wednesday afternoon to one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, which would have sent him to prison for up to 6 years and would be served concurrently with his sentence in a Lee County weapons case.

The owner of a Mokena home remodel and construction company has pleaded guilty to charges that he defrauded customers out of thousands of dollars.

A 20-year-old man in Joliet is expected to survive a shooting that left him with three gunshot wounds, police said.

Kane County Sheriff’s deputies assisted Lombard police in stopping a driver who was suspected of attempting to run over three pedestrians and was trying to elude police, according to sheriff’s reports.

Dwight police announced earlier this week they had arrested Ernest Petro, of Lincoln, in connection with the drug-induced homicide of Eric Shepherd in July 2024.

The attorney for Robert Gutierrez, the St. Charles businessman charged with more than $100,000 in theft by deception, said his client be too ill to participate in his trial asked a judge to delay it until he can.

Kyle Cooper's first-degree murder trial will begin April 8 in Whiteside County Circuit Court.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a burglary in progress Saturday, March 15, in the area of U.S. 30 and Walton Road in rural Dixon, where two people were seen going in and out of a garage, authorities said in a news release.

A Woodstock man has admitted to bruising a 3-year-old child, and in a separate case, driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Third District Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the 36-year sentence of a man for the armed carjacking of a pregnant woman’s car from her driveway in December 2019.

The City of Joliet has agreed to pay a Joliet police officer $287,000 in exchange for her dropping what remains of a lawsuit that claimed a detective intentionally accessed a nude photo on her cellphone.

A reckless homicide charge has been filed in Will County against a Tesla driver over a Feb. 5 crash that claimed the lives of Sameer Gowani, 36, and Quincy Benbow, 33.

Jonathan D. Hurst, convicted of murdering Sycamore mother and son Patricia and Robert Wilson in 2016, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

A Harvey man sat impassively as a Will County judge told him on Wednesday that she found him guilty of the 2020 murder of Charles Baird, 19, in New Lenox.

St. Charles police have been cleared of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a man who invaded a retirement home while waving a chain saw.

In less than an hour Wednesday a jury convicted a man of arson for setting fire inside his father’s Lakewood home despite Connor Kirkpatrick saying he was only trying to take his life.

A man was killed by police early Wednesday in Aurora. The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. on Route 25 near Ashland Avenue, according to a press release.

A Woodstock man with a past conviction for burglary to a vehicle pleaded guilty Monday to residential burglary.

Connor Kirkpatrick, accused of setting fire to his father’s Lakewood home, said he was in so much “unbearable” pain that from injuries he suffered when he crashed his car into a Crystal Lake home.

Kyle Cooper appears in Whiteside County Circuit Court in Morrison on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, for a pretrial conference. Cooper is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 14 death of Daniel Gordon of Rock Falls. A jury trial is set for April 8.

A Plainfield man is facing an aggravated battery charge of the 2-year-old child that is punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison.

Dixon police are asking residents to be on the lookout for a gray 2022 Dodge Charger and a black 2014 Cadillac CTS.

A Joliet man was identified as the suspect involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Dec. 14. An Aurora woman was also arrested after she was accused of falsely reporting the suspect vehicle as stolen.

A Frankfort man has been arrested on an indecent solicitation of a child charge following a sting operation by Predator Poachers Southeast Texas, court records show. 

Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Terry L. Gardner, of Milford, on several charges following a traffic stop March 13.

According to Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department release, 40-year-old Alexander M. Zaragoza was the driver of a vehicle sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop at approximately 3 a.m. Monday.

A Downers Grove South High School soccer coach has been accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, prosecutors said.

A former Richmond woman has been convicted after fraudulently selling off more than $25,000 of an elderly Spring Grove man’s stock.