Judge finds alleged Izzy’s bar shooter fit to stand trial

A Crest Hill man charged with killing a bartender and wounding another man at Izzy’s bar has been found fit to stand trial.

Will County Judge Dan Rippy found Patrick K. Gleason, 57, fit to stand trial on Tuesday after he received a fitness evaluation report.

Gleason’s attorney Chuck Bretz said his client was evaluated by clinical psychologist Ramanda Simonic of Community Solutions in Joliet. He said he didn’t know when the case would go to trial.

“There’s still some discovery issues,” Bretz said.

Gleason was charged with fatally shooting bartender Daniel Rios III, 52, and wounding Thomas Izquierdo, the son of Izzy’s owner, Alfonso Izquierdo, at the Theodore Street bar in March 2018.

Gleason was injured when bystanders jumped in to disarm him and hold him for officers, police said.

Bretz requested Gleason undergo a fitness examination after he noticed his client’s behavior became “increasingly erratic” and he demonstrated a “marked detachment from reality,” according to his motion.

Bretz’s motion said his doubt as to Gleason’s fitness to stand trial surfaced while he and an investigator in his employ spoke with Gleason and Gleason’s “neighbors and family members.”

In November, Gleason filed a motion to drop Bretz as his attorney after claiming there had been a “breakdown” in communication. He argued Bretz refused to listen to him.

Rippy struck Gleason’s motion because of “possible underlying issues” as to his fitness.

Bretz said Tuesday that Gleason has indicated he will keep him as his attorney.