Man charged with threatening to shoot Crest Hill mayor

Will County prosecutors charged a 78-year-old man with threatening Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman by saying he would “show up, shoot the place up and shoot the mayor,” court records show.

On Friday, Judge Art Smigielski signed a warrant for the arrest of Richard Walkey, 78, of Crest Hill, on a felony charge of threatening a public official. Walkey has not been arrested yet.

Prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint that on July 13, Walkey “knowingly delivered or conveyed indirectly” to Soliman a communication “containing a threat that would place” Soliman in “reasonable apprehension of bodily harm.”

Prosecutors said the threat Walkey made was that he would “show up, shoot the place up and shoot the mayor.”

The case was investigated by the Crest Hill Police Department.

Smigielski’s warrant carries a $100,000 bond. Walkey will have to post 10% of that amount for his release from jail when he’s arrested.

In 2019, Walkey was indicted on three charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, court records show. The case remains pending in court.

That indictment alleged Walkey possessed three handguns on June 30, 2019, in Joliet when he was not on his own property and did not have a valid license under the state’s Firearm Concealed Carry Act.