Felon accused of trying to enter McHenry County courthouse with gun is detained pretrial

A man accused of trying to enter the McHenry County courthouse in Woodstock on Monday afternoon with a semiautomatic pistol in a backpack has been charged and detained.

Charges against Jake Baraglia, 33, of Woodstock, who was ordered Tuesday to be held in the county jail pretrial, include aggravated unlawful use of a weapon while being a felon, carrying a firearm in a vehicle or concealing it on person, and aggravated battery of a government employee, according to the criminal complaint in the McHenry County courthouse.

Just before 4 p.m. Monday, police said, Baraglia carried a SCCY CPX 9-mm semiautomatic pistol into the west entrance of the courthouse, according to the complaint and a news release.

During his first appearance before a judge Tuesday, Baraglia was allowed to sit and was flanked by two extra officers with tasers who are members of a special response unit.

The defense attorney and prosecutor disagreed on whether the gun – which authorities said was in a backpack and discovered after the backpack went through a security X-ray machine – was loaded. When courthouse security officers saw the image of the gun on the X-ray, and Baraglia realized they had, he grabbed the bag and fled out of the courthouse, Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said.

As Baraglia fled, he knocked down a security officer who suffered an abrasion and contusion to his left arm as well as a laceration and swelling on his head, according to Miller and the criminal complaint.

After a “short foot chase,” Baraglia was apprehended south of the courthouse near North Seminary Avenue and Russell Court, and the weapon “was recovered a short time later,” according to a news release from the sheriff.

Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said that although the image showed the firearm and a clip in the bag, the clip was separate and the gun was not loaded. But Miller said that when officers recovered the gun after a foot chase and Baraglia attempted to hide, the gun was loaded.

Judge Cynthia Lamb took a break to review the image and case law regarding a discrepancy on whether the charges were detainable based on whether the gun was loaded. When Lamb returned to the bench, she agreed with Miller that the allegations amount to a detainable offense. She said Baraglia is a threat and a “serious flight risk” who “clearly attempted to enter the courthouse [with a gun] knowing he would be searched. He then charged an officer, injuring the officer.”

She said Baraglia has a violent criminal history dating back to 2008 and a history of not returning to court “numerous” times on previous cases.

McHenry County court records show Baraglia has been convicted on a number of theft-, battery- and drug-related charges. Lamb also noted a 2022 conviction in McHenry County of resisting a corrections officer, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison, court records show.

“Whether the gun was loaded or not, he clearly does not abide by this court or Illinois law,” Lamb said, adding that the offense of being a felon in possession of a firearm is illegal and detainable.

Christina Jones, the corrections officer named in the 2022 case that Lamb noted in her ruling, said Tuesday that she suffered serious back injuries from Baraglia’s attack. Jones is on medical leave for those injuries, for which she said she has since had three surgeries and still can’t feel her feet. At the time of the incident, Baraglia was being held on Algonquin charges of resisting an officer during an arrest and possessing heroin and drug paraphernalia, records show.

Jones, who allowed the Northwest Herald to use her name, said before Tuesday’s hearing that she feared Baraglia would be released, and she prays “for the safety of the officers who must engage with [Baraglia]. [He] is a known violent offender with a documented history of assaulting correctional staff.”