Ottawa man faces elevated felony charge for Nov. 13 shooting near Starved Rock State Park

An Ottawa man charged with firing at a vehicle Nov. 13 near Starved Rock State Park was indicted Tuesday on a new, more serious count and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

A La Salle County grand jury convened Tuesday and returned two felony counts against 40-year-old Thomas J. Reynolds. He was initially charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony carrying four to 15 years in prison, and was so indicted Tuesday.

But the grand jury also indicted Reynolds on a second count of aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony carrying 6-30 years in prison and no possibility of probation.

Reynolds is scheduled to appear Dec. 15 in La Salle County Circuit Court before Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. The judge is likely to set trial dates at that time. Reynolds is out of custody, having posted $10,000 on $100,000 bond.

No motion to increase bond will be filed, La Salle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro said Tuesday.

Details still are emerging, but the criminal information initially filed in the case alleged Reynolds discharged a shot “in the direction of a vehicle he knew to be occupied.”

Since then, however, the victim in the case, a 35-year-old rural Ottawa man, alleged in social media posts he was shot in the thigh.

“I’m lucky to be alive,” the victim said in a video recorded from what appeared to be a hospital room.

State police are investigating but have neither released a report nor responded to a request for comment. Information available to date was gleaned from court records and scanner traffic, which showed first-responders were summoned at 1:08 a.m. Nov. 13 to 952 Route 71 near the state park for a man injured in what a dispatcher described as being hit by a car.

Reynolds’ attorney, reached Tuesday, declined comment.