Crime and Courts

Attorneys for a Lockport man facing a first-degree murder charge reached an agreement with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to second-degree murder instead.

Four Italian nationals accused of operating an electronics counterfeit ring worth more than $570,000 will remain in jail until their next court date.

Kenneth Jackson died after he was hit by car driven by Steven Foulk, a former Chicago police officer who was drunk at the time and was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

A former Algonquin man pleaded guilty to failing to report a crash after hitting a woman with his car while she was crossing the street. Paul Epifanio got prison time.

A Will County judge handed down the prison sentence for the Chicago man after he spoke about how he felt the “system mostly targets” Black people and he compared “the system” to “modern-day slavery.”

A man threatened to shoot patrons in an Island Lake bar, left to load a gun inside his truck and then used the weapon to hit a man who tried to stop him from returning, authorities allege.

Carlos T. Loyola, 27, is charged in Whiteside County with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated domestic battery.

Algonquin police said a man changed the amount and payee on someone else's check and deposited into his bank account. He's now charged with forgery and theft.

Prosecutors allege the offenses occurred between January and April 2023. The predatory criminal sexual assault charges are Class X felonies that carry possible prison sentences of up to 60 years.

A man from Texas was accused of using a skimming device at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet to divert funds from legitimate vendor sales into his personal account, police said.

A Colorado juvenile has been accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint in downtown Downers Grove last month.

Officers found no one injured in a shooting reported on Sunday in the 1000 block of Lois Place in Joliet.

A prosecutor provided “graphic details” of the alleged sexual assaults of a child starting when she was 6, leading to charges against a McCullom Lake man.

A Maywood man initially charged a felony in the theft of a check for almost $56,000 from the village of Algonquin has pleaded guilty to a less serious charge of attempted forgery.

Kankakee police arrested a 23-year-old mother of two children for allegedly harming one of them.

A third arrest has been made by Kankakee police related to a shooting in the 200 block of South Rosewood Avenue on April 30.

Kankakee police arrested Frances T. Rogers earlier this week after officers allegedly found her with a gas can and a lit cigarette as she stood on the porch of a residence in the 700 block of East Locust Street.

A 5-year-old boy was in critical condition Friday after being shot in the stomach, probably by another juvenile, Joliet police said.

A motion was denied Friday to detain pre-trial a Chicago man accused of robbing at gunpoint a postal carrier, prosecutors said.

A Huntley man’s family settled for $11 million after their son Joseph Zephries was hit and killed on a roadwork site. But the driver who struck him was only ever charged with petty driving offenses.

It will be at least another eight months before an Ogle County jury decides the fate of a Stillman Valley man who is charged with killing his ex-wife in 2016 and then setting her Byron home on fire, also resulting in the death of their 3-year-old son.

Hilary Agnello, a volleyball coach for Prairie Ridge High and dean at Crystal Lake South High, has been charged with misdemeanor DUI and child endangerment following a crash in Crystal Lake, according to police and court records.

Kankakee police investigated a shots fired incident that occurred Wednesday in the 400 block of North East Avenue.

The family of a 20-year-old Huntley man who was fatally struck by a car while performing utility work last year on a Huntley road received a record $11.5 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Joliet police arrested a woman following a disturbance at Motel 6 in Joliet. She faces charges for aggravated battery to a peace officer.

A Woodstock man convicted twice of sexually assaulting a four-year-old child won another appeal and a shot at a third trial, in another twist in a case that included a judge overturning his own verdict.

A Cicero man who prosecutors said turned the Fox River Grove Jewel-Osco parking lot into an “open-air drug market” was found guilty Tuesday of selling cocaine there twice last year.

Just one day before Kyle Cooper was set to be tried on a first-degree murder charge in a Rock Falls stabbing case, attorneys announced they’ve reached a tentative plea agreement.

Jared Babler, 28, was charged in connection with an April 15 incident.

Prosecutors said Brandon Simonson killed Matthew Phillips, a Jewish inmate, to become a member of a white supremacist antisemitic prison gang.

Chester Weger's mini-trial continues as defense mounts case to overturn conviction

A federal judge found the police misconduct claims in a lawsuit over the 2020 in-custody death of Eric Lurry were strong enough for trial and possibly receive a favorable verdict. 

An Itasca man is being detained pretrial on charges he possessed and disseminated child sexual abuse materials.

Former Will County correctional officer Daniel Herod has had his case for child sexual abuse continued until June. He remains held in jail.

McHenry County prosecutors allege that a married McHenry man molested the 7-year-old child of a person he met on a dating application and was in a relationship with.

The Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a shooting Monday that left one person dead and the alleged shooter arrested.

A felon pleaded guilty Monday to gun and drug charges related to a shooting in Harvard last year and was sentenced to six years in prison.

A motion was approved Monday to deny pre-trial release for a Chicago man accused of crashing his car into the attached garage of an Elmhurst home while fleeing from police, prosecutors said.

Xandria Harris learned Friday her sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 7 for direct contempt of court.

An ill detective and an abundance of pretrial motions – covering everything from whether to let a jury hear a 911 call to the possibility the Rock Falls Police Department violated investigative protocol – has led to a two-day delay in the start of a Rock Falls murder trial.

A packed courtroom turned out for the Chester Weger 'mini trial' evidentiary hearing on Monday, May 12, 2025 at the La Salle County Government Complex in Ottawa.

A McHenry County judge ruled that a convicted felon from Waukegan intended to kill a McHenry man when he shot at his “Batman” car three times.

A Joliet man is being held in Will County jail for allegedly stabbing a woman during an incident in which he was stabbed in the chest.

A man accused of possessing and sharing images of children and toddlers “screaming and crying” as they were being sexually assaulted by adult males was detained in McHenry County jail Wednesday.

Joliet police are investigating a weekend shooting which left two homes and six vehicles damaged by gunfire.

A 24-year-old man was shot to death Saturday evening during an altercation in Downers Grove, police said.

A Wonder Lake man has been accused of punching a 7-year-old with special needs in the stomach, slapping him and throwing him to the ground for wearing the wrong pants, a prosecutor said.

Marengo police arrested a man early Saturday who they said possessed six roosters, cockfighting equipment and nearly $10,000.

Calls came in for help at two separate crashes occurring in Marengo Saturday within a minute of each other, authorities said.

A Crystal Lake man accused of possessing images of children being bound and sexually assaulted previously worked as a volunteer wrestling coach for Deerfield High School, Township High School District 113 has confirmed.