Posted on April 30, 2012 in Theft

According to a story on ChicagoTribune.com, Brandon M. Hurley, a 19-year-old Gurnee man, was arrested on April 22 and charged with two felony counts of burglary after having been found with stolen electronics in his vehicle.

According to the story, the burglaries took place on April 20 in the Estates of Churchill Hunt Subdivision. Police received a call around 9pm and responded to investigate claims of a suspicious looking person wearing a black ski mask and black gloves. By the time the police arrived, the man was no longer loitering near the open garage where he was spotted.

While in the Churchill Hunt subdivision, police stopped Hurley and found numerous stolen electronics in his vehicle, and he was arrested. They are continuing the investigation. Hurley was released on Sunday after his first court appearance; his bond was set at $30,000. Arraignment will take place in May.

A knowledgeable criminal attorney can help those who are facing criminal charges to avoid the harshest penalties, or even have the criminal charges dropped. Whether a person is guilty or not, facing criminal charges can be scary and unexpected; an experienced attorney be there to guide the accused through the legal system to a personalized and positive outcome.

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 Posted on April 27, 2012 in Juvenile Crimes

An Eligin mother has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and of aggravated battery in a public way. Anita R. Joost, 46, is facing two felony counts for an incident involving her 16-year-old daughter and another 15-year-old girl.

According to a report in the Daily Herald, police say Joost’s daughter told her the other girl, who Joost’s daughter had problems with, wanted to meet her at Shadow Hill Park to talk and try to resolve their issues. The daughter told her mother she wanted to physically fight the other girl. The mother agreed and drove her to the park.

The police claim that once they arrived at the park, the girls began talking but Joost told her daughter to “Kick her (butt).” At that point, the daughter tried getting the other girl to fight by calling her names and intimidating her.

When the 15-year-old refused to fight, Joost used her cell phone to record and take photos of the confrontation. She then instructed one of her daughter’s friends, who was watching the incident, to tell her daughter to either hit the girl or leave. The two girls struggled, with the daughter pushing the other girl, punching and pulling her hair. When the teens separated, Joost threatened the 15-year-old.

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 Posted on April 24, 2012 in White Collar Crime

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Naperville Public Library’s board president has resigned amid embezzlement allegations. Napervillle police say that a warrant for 63-year-old Jerry Feldott’s arrest on theft charges was issued, and that Feldott turned himself in at the DuPage County Jail on April 19^th.

Feldott is accused of embezzling $25,900 from the North Edgewood Homeowners Association, between 2007 and 2012. His arrest came following a two-month police investigation instigated when the association’s president and vice-president reported the missing funds.

John Spears, the director of the Naperville Public Library, says that Feldott resigned from his board position via e-mail. Feldott is the owner of and a broker at Feldott & Associates, Ltd., a Naperville real estate firm.

Another recent news story tells of Dixon, Illinois, where the town’s comptroller was recently charged with embezzling nearly $30 million from the town, which had an annual budget of $8 million, to fund her horse training business.

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 Posted on April 22, 2012 in Drug Charges

According to the CBS Chicago, on April 11, 2012, over thirty police officers swarmed several apartment complexes in the Naperville, Illinois area and arrested ten individuals for narcotic-related charges. The apartment buildings are in the Jefferson Avenue, Testa Drive, and Encina Drive area.

Apparently, the Naperville police were responding to a dramatic increase in telephone calls to the department alleging safety concerns. Sergeant Gregory Bell has stated the telephones pertained to suspected drug activity to trespassing. As a result of these calls, the police initiated Operation Clean Sweep to put a stop the so-called disturbances.

The Operation began when the police bombarded the area, with nineteen police vehicles, at approximately 1:00 pm. The police continued the Operation for nearly ten hours, and left the area at about 11:00 pm.

The police stopped more than twenty vehicles, freely handing out warnings, tickets, and even arresting a few residents. Further, the police conducted a search warrant at an apartment occupied Tyrone Townsend, on Testa Drive where they uncovered a sophisticated pot-growing operation with 46 marijuana plants. Mr. Townsend was charged for producing or possessing more than 20 but not more than 50 marijuana plants, possession of more than 30 but not more than 500 grams of marijuana, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the health or life of a child because 3 children with special needs were inside the apartment during the raid.

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 Posted on April 17, 2012 in DUI/DWI

In 1996, Kyung Ho Song was charged with DUI and reckless homicide after he drunkenly plowed into a broken-down station wagon on Lake Street in Bartlett, instantly killing Ecuadoran immigrant Sonia Naranjo. Song told a Cook County court that he was was a shoe store manager making $12,000 annually, and was released after posting a $2,500 bail bond deposit. In reality, Song owned a strip mall, a large home in Schaumburg, and additional commercial property valued at over $1 million. Less than two years after the incident, Song had liquidated all of his assets, withdrawn his guilty plea to the criminal charges, and fled the U.S. for his native South Korea.

Some 15 years later, the Chicago Tribune reporters contacted Cook County authorities about the case that had lain dormant for years. The police resumed their search for Song, and in December, 2011, located him living in Seoul, South Korea. Although law enforcement officials state that they intend to pursue the case, they have not yet taken any action to contact South Korea about extraditing Song. It is unclear at this point whether any extradition efforts would be successful.

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 Posted on April 14, 2012 in Juvenile Crimes

According to a recent Chicago Tribune story, two teenagers showed up to a fight with another teen and his father in Downers Grove with bats. Due to an ongoing feud between two former friends over the past year, one teen challenged the other to a fight. The other teen and his friend came to the fight brandishing baseball bats, which they held up to the teen and his father as if they were going to hit them. When the pair heard police sirens approaching, they put down their bats, and did not actually strike any blows. Police arrested the teens for disorderly conduct and confiscated their bats. The teens later were released to the custody of their parents.

Although disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor charge under Illinois law, it still will become a part of your permanent criminal record if you are convicted. As a result, you will be required to report this criminal conviction on employment applications and disclose your conviction in other situations for the rest of your life. Additionally, a disorderly conduct conviction can carry a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and payment of a fine of up to $1,500.00. Therefore, the penalties for a disorderly conduct conviction can be quite severe.

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 Posted on April 11, 2012 in White Collar Crime

While state lawmakers made several changes to the Illinois Criminal Code for 2012, one major change involves the broadening of the definition of forgery under Illinois law. A forgery offense is a Class 3 felony, which carries a penalty of a prison sentence ranging from two to five years, as well as a fine of no more than $25,000, and restitution in an amount of no more than the total amount of the victim’s loss. As the penalties for forgery are quite severe, it is important that everyone realize what types of conduct constitutes forgery under the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Forgery occurs when, with the intent to defraud, a person knowingly makes a false document or alters any document so that it is false, and the document is capable by its appearance of defrauding another. Additionally, forgery occurs when a person issues or delivers such a document, or possesses the document with the intent to issue or deliver it.

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 Posted on April 09, 2012 in DUI

DUI Checkpoints in Chicago Chicago police routinely establish DUI checkpoints in an attempt to nab drunk drivers, especially during holidays that commonly involve alcohol drinking. Legally defined, a DUI, or "sobriety" checkpoint is a temporary roadblock regulated by local law enforcement that stops certain vehicles in order to determine if the driver is intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. In addition, drivers who are stopped will be asked for registration, license and proof of insurance. They may also be ticketed even if they are not impaired for not wearing a seat belt, expired license and a host of other traffic infractions.

If a DUI checkpoint officer who subsequently suspects you of being intoxicated, you have the right to refuse a field sobriety test. Sobriety tests involve walking a straight line, reciting the alphabet, standing on one foot without falling or touching your nose with your right then your left index finger. A Chicago DUI checkpoint police officer may also want you to take a breathalyzer test in order to determine the alcohol content in your blood. Legally, you can refuse this test as well but consequences for refusing a breathalyzer may be more serious than an uncontested DUI charge. However, be aware that while an office can ask to search your car, he or she has no legal grounds to do so unless granted a search warrant by a judge.

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 Posted on April 05, 2012 in Weapons

Law enforcement officials recently arrested 80-year-old Homer Wright for unlawful possession of a handgun after he shot and wounded an intruder who had broken into his Englewood home and tavern, which he has operated for over 40 years. The Chicago Tribune reported that Wright kept a gun to protect himself and his wife after experiencing multiple break-ins at his tavern, and having also been robbed at gunpoint. Unfortunately, Wright is a convicted felon due to two decades-old weapons convictions, one in 1994, and the other in the 1960s.

Amid uproar by community leaders and activists, Cook County prosecutors dropped the charges against Wright, “in the best interests of justice,” according to a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office. In a community that has grown increasingly dangerous and violent over the years, the public overwhelmingly came out in favor of Wright, believing that Wright acted solely in self-defense in a dangerous situation.

This case renews the gun law debate in Illinois, especially in light of the recent shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida by a neighborhood watchman. Illinois has arguably the most restrictive law in the nation when it comes to citizens and their guns, as Illinois is the only state in the nation in which it is illegal to carry handguns in public. However, Illinois does have a so-called “castle law”, which allowed Wright to defend his home with potentially deadly force if a burglar enters his home through violence or force. It seems that prosecutors concluded that Wright’s only crime was illegally possessing the handgun – not using it to defend himself.

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 Posted on April 03, 2012 in DUI/DWI

The Chicago Police have charged the teenager driver allegedly responsible for a car accident that occurred around 2 a.m. on the morning of Monday, April 2. The accident happened^, in the Brighton Park area of Chicago, and the driver told police that she had been drinking vodka and orange juice with her boyfriend at a nearby Chicago motel.

The eighteen-year-old faces misdemeanor DUI charges in the car wreck, which killed one man and injured five others. It’s possible that her DUI charge could be upgraded to a felony.She was also cited for failure to yield to the right-of-way, driving without a license, and driving without insurance. The woman was taken to the hospital with hand and arm injuries, where she was arrested. The current condition of the other injured drivers is unknown.

Under-aged drinking is a real problem. Unfortunately, young people make decisions about drinking and driving without having a real understanding of the potentially devastating consequences. One bad decision can result in life-altering consequences, including serious criminal charges.

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