Crime and Courts

Sugar Grove police announced an arrest in the hit-and-run death of a local woman who was out walking her dog.

A 16-year-old teen in Joliet was caught carrying two loaded handguns, one of which had a high-capacity magazine, inside of a backpack after fleeing from officers, police said.

Prosecutors called a defense request for the dismissal of an Elwood murder case over a detective’s missing field notes an “extreme sanction” when less severe options would be more appropriate.

A Dixon man has been charged with six offenses, including four felonies, in connection with gunshots reported around 4:25 a.m. Monday, July 21, 2025, in a field off Tilton Park Drive.

A Joliet man has been charged with robbing a local gas station while armed with a knife. He fled the scene on a bicycle.

A motion was approved Tuesday to detain pre-trial a Cook County man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle.

McHenry County has purchased software to help keep judge's personal information off the internet.

Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore on Monday was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in a yearslong bribery scheme meant to influence ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan

Joliet police are investigating four shootings since Thursday, July 17, that left homes and vehicles damaged but resulted in no injuries.

An Aurora man has been sentenced by a Kane County judge to 125 years in prison for his role in the 2021 murder of Edward Smith Jr, also of Aurora.

A registered sex offender from Joliet is accused of taking photos of juveniles with a key fob camera at a Walmart store in New Lenox, police said.

Officers responded to four unrelated shootings in Joliet that caused no injuries but did cause property damage. 

Honey and Louie are comfort and therapy dogs at the McHenry County courthouse. Now they've officially been sworn in for service.

The following cases were considered by the Bureau County Grand Jury on July 18.

Andrew Gornick pleaded guilty and was sentenced Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Ogle County Circuit Court.

A Lombard teenager has been accused of planning to bomb an Islamic center.

A judge has sentenced a suburban bank robber to seven years and eight months in federal prison.

The defendant disseminated multiple images containing child sexual abuse material to a chat group on the instant messaging platform Kik, authorities allege.

Michael Kaemke, 54, is charged with repeatedly contacting a woman he is accused of unlawfully restraining in 2024.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood wants answers about alleged federal immigration enforcement activity in Joliet that she says flagrantly violated law enforcement standards and recklessly put people at risk.

A Sheridan man has been charged with murder following the day-long investigation into the discovery of two bodies in rural Sheridan – but the suspect is not yet in custody.

A driver was charged Tuesday for a crash that killed a Princeton man on Thanksgiving weekend near Ottawa. He was using a handheld cell phone, prosecutors allege.

Kent P. Koehler, of La Salle, was charged with Possession with Intent to Deliver Heroin (more than 400g but less than 900g), a Class X Felony.

A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty to punching and kicking a woman during an altercation in a Woodstock home and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

A Will County judge ruled there was no actual conflict of interest between the state's attorney's office and a former deputy charged with sex crimes against children.

A judge denied the pretrial release of a Bolingbrook man charged with killing his girlfriend, her 9-year-old sister, their father and grievously wounding their mother in a 2023 home invasion shooting.

A 64-year-old man thought he was arranging to meet a 16-year-old girl in Harvard for sex but found he was actually communicating with an undercover detective, prosecutors said.

Yorkville Police say they have no evidence to suggest Tom Betsinger and the victim had any prior relationship or knowledge of one another prior to the altercation on July 13.

Two women have had their pretrial releases revoked after they were charged with new crimes in DuPage County.

A man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after 4,000 grams of cocaine were discovered in his vehicle during a traffic stop, according to a news release from the Kane County State’s Attorney.

A McHenry man was acquitted of charges that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in McCullom Lake. The not-guilty verdict came after the girl testified that he forced himself on her.

A Lee County judge has filed a written statement explaining his July 7, 2025, decision to allow the pretrial release of a Dixon man accused of disseminating images and videos of child sexual abuse.

Malakye Swanson, 18, pleaded guilty Monday, July 14, 2025, to the Class 4 felony offense of disorderly conduct.

A Crest Hill man was sentenced to serve 50% of a four-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to the 2024 reckless homicide of a Joliet couple but he could spend less than 10 months in prison. 

A Rock Falls man has pleaded not guilty to seven felony charges accusing him of being one of three men who showed up at a June Rock Falls garage party unwelcome, masked and armed, beat two men, threatened others and then shot at the garage while running away

A Lake in the Hills man who was convicted of defrauding the state out of more than $3 million in sales taxes from Denny's restaurants he owned is asking the court to seal related documents.

McHenry man has pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault of a minor and, in addition to prison, must register as a sex offender.

A former executive for electric utility Commonwealth Edison has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in bribing ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan for jobs and contracts for the Democratic power broker’s political allies

An Elgin man who is already on the sex offender registry has been charged with felony possession of child sexual abuse images, according to authorities and official records.

A man residing in a Wonder Lake home in 2023 where illicit drugs and stolen license plates were found pleaded guilty Monday to possessing methamphetamine.

A Chicago man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the robbery of a Marengo gas station where an employee was shot. He will serve the time concurrent with a Kane County robbery sentence.

A Joliet woman has been ordered to pay back $20,000 after she pleaded guilty to defrauding a federal COVID-19 pandemic relief program in 2021. 

A former Island Lake man has pleaded guiltyto possessing LSD, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

An Island Lake man is accused of possessing thousands of videos of child sex abuse.

The TALK-LINE interview for July 10 featured Lee County State’s Attorney Charley Boonstra discussing the current criminal court cases being handled by the state’s attorney’s office.

The accidents happened in sections of Orland Park and Tinley Park that are in Will County.

A Will County judge ordered a Bolingbrook sex offender charged with possession of child sex abuse materials to remain in jail after finding his pretrial release posed a danger to others.

Twin brothers from Romeoville have been granted pretrial release in a Joliet robbery case after a judge found no probable cause for charges in one of the brothers’ cases, court records show. 

Hilary Agnello, a Crystal Lake South dean and former Prairie Ridge volleyball coach, now faces for serous charges of aggravated DUI in a crash in May that caused a serious injury, court records show.

The Kankakee County State’s Attorney Office charged Jason W. Exton, of Momence, for possession of child sexual abuse images and possession of controlled substance.