Arraignment set, furlough denied for DeKalb man charged in Lord Stanley’s shooting

SYCAMORE – A DeKalb County judge on Wednesday set an arraignment date for a DeKalb man charged in a February shooting outside Lord Stanley’s bar in downtown DeKalb and denied the man’s request to leave jail on furlough.

Christian M. Rios, 24, of DeKalb is expected to be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. April 17 in front of DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery. Rios was arrested March 12 and faces 10 felony criminal charges after police alleged that he was the one who fired a gun outside the bar on Feb. 5, injuring another man, according to court records.

Rios is represented by Sycamore-based defense attorney Robert Nolan. Nolan asked Montgomery Wednesday if Rios could be allowed furlough from his custody at DeKalb County Jail to attend a personal appointment that Nolan said had been scheduled before his arrest.

“Due to the nature and scope of these offenses, I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Mr. Nolan, but your motion for furlough is denied,” Montgomery said in reply.

Nolan also filed a motion to substitute judges on March 22. The case has been reassigned from Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen to Montgomery, court records show.

[ Man arrested in Feb. 5 DeKalb shooting outside Lord Stanley’s bar ]

Rios is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony; two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm; possession of a firearm by a street gang member; aggravated battery; two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon; mob action; possession of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card; and possession of ammunition without a FOID card, according to court records. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

Rios previously served three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty on June 13, 2018, to possession of a firearm without a FOID card and unlawful possession of a handgun with the intent to deliver, according to court records. Rios previously had been accepted in DeKalb County’s mental health treatment court on the case but did not complete the program, Montgomery – who sentenced Rios on the 2018 charges on June 7, 2022 – said Wednesday.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 5, a man wearing a black ski mask got into a fight with another man outside Lord Stanley’s bar downtown and then shot the man, according to court records. The victim suffered multiple wounds to his hand, upper leg, and body from one bullet fired from a 9-mm gun, records show.

Prosecutors have alleged Rios was the one wearing the ski mask and who fired the single bullet.

DeKalb police responded about 12:10 a.m. Feb. 5 to reports of gunfire in the public parking lot behind Lord Stanley’s and the Annex, 142 E. Lincoln Highway.

Through interviews with the victim, video surveillance footage, and multiple witnesses, police said they learned about an alleged confrontation that preempted the shooting, court records show.

About midnight, the victim allegedly walked out the back door of the bar with another person, and outside was a group of four men, including Rios, Christian Contreras and Anthony Lara, who also face charges in the incident. Surveillance video footage allegedly puts the three men at the scene along with witness interviews that also identified them to police, according to DeKalb County court records.

The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office on March 13 filed a motion asking a judge to deny pretrial release to Rios. Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen ruled in favor of that request on March 13, records show.

Lara and Contreras also have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Lara, 23, and Contreras, 27, both of DeKalb, are charged with one count each of aggravated battery and mob action.