McHenry County Blog

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office:

CARY MAN SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces today that Michael Rohn, 24, of Cary, was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offense of Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Michael Rohn was found guilty of this offense by way of jury trial on June 9, 2011

In the early morning hours of October 16, 2010, Michael W. Rohn became involved in a verbal argument with Jeremy Sojka, 21, of Cary.

The verbal argument began when Michael Rohn believed that he had been the recipient of a hand gesture while he was driving a Jeep Wrangler behind the vehicle Mr. Sojka was a passenger in.

Michael Rohn followed the other vehicle into a parking lot behind a Walgreens on Northwest Highway in Cary.

Mr. Sojka exited his vehicle to speak with Mr. Rohn while Mr. Rohn was in the driver’s seat of his Jeep Wrangler.

After words were exchanged, a physical altercation ensued between Mr. Sojka and Mr. Rohn through Mr. Rohn’s driver’s side window.

Ultimately, Mr. Rohn put his Jeep in reverse, backed up, and then drove forward striking Mr. Sojka. Mr. Rohn again put his vehicle in reverse, and as Mr. Sojka was staggering away, Mr. Rohn put his vehicle in drive, aimed at Mr. Sojka, and drove over Mr. Sojka with the Jeep.

Rather than exiting the parking lot through the exit, Mr. Rohn drove through a nearby park before reentering a roadway.

Mr. Sojka required extensive medical treatment to treat him for his injuries, which included a broken pelvis and a lacerated liver.

This case was investigated by Det. Susan Ellis of the Cary Police Department and, and was prosecuted by Sharyl Eisenstein and Ryan Blackney of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney:

JURY FINDS MAN GUILTY OF ARMED ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED BATTERY

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that twenty-four year old Daniel Charneski, of Freeport, Illinois, was found guilty yesterday of the felony offenses of armed robbery and aggravated battery.

The trial testimony revealed that in the early morning hours of January 9, 2007, two masked men entered a twenty-four hour convenient store located on Berkshire Drive in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

One of the men was armed with a metal pipe.

After taking money and cigarettes, the assailant armed with a metal pipe repeatedly hit the cashier over the head and then fled into the night.

The victim was transported to a nearby hospital where twenty-six medical staples were used to close three separate lacerations to her scalp.

On March 27, 2007, the defendant confessed to participating in the robbery and striking the victim.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 9, 2011.

The defendant faces a sentence of between 6-30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the class X felony offense of armed robbery and a consecutive sentence of between 2-5 years for the class 3 felony offense of aggravated battery. The other participant in the armed robbery,

Stephen Waters was previously sentenced to 20 years in the penitentiary.

This case was investigated by Detective Will of the Crystal Lake Police Department and Detective Sergeant Synek of the Cary Police Department.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Ryan Blackney and Philip Hiscock.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

CRYSTAL LAKE WOMAN SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON
FOR THE ROBBERY OF CHASE BANK IN CARY, ILLINOIS

Silk Lumpkins sees the Cary bank has a bowl of lollipops and decides to take one.

ROCKFORD – PATRICK J. FITZGERALD, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; ROBERT D. GRANT, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; RONALD K. LUKASIK, Chief of the Fox River Grove Police Department; and STEVEN CASSTEVENS, Chief of the Cary Police Department, today made the following announcement:

Today, in Rockford federal court, United States District Judge Philip G. Reinhard sentenced SILK P. LUMPKINS, 36, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, to 18 months in federal prison for the May 26, 2010, robbery of Chase Bank, 300 Northwest Highway, Cary, Illinois.

Lumpkins pled guilty on February 16, 2011.

]In pleading guilty, Lumpkins admitted that at about 2:20 p.m. on May 26, 2010, she entered Chase Bank wearing a disguise consisting of heavy covering make-up on her face and hands, a long blonde wig, long-sleeved shirt, and a baseball cap.

Silk Lumpkins hands over the robbery note.

Lumpkins further admitted that she wrote a note at the self-service desk ,approached a teller at the counter, and handed the note to the teller that stated something to the effect of:

“If you don’t want to die today, give me all your money. You have 30 seconds to do this.”

According to the plea agreement, the teller then removed $5,876 from her drawer and handed the money to Lumpkins. Lumpkins then put the money into a blue “Chase” deposit bag that she brought with her and walked out of the bank with the bag.

Lumpkins was arrested on June 2, 2010.

 

Silk Lumpkins waits for the money.

In addition to the 18 month prison sentence, Lumpkins was ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release following her release from prison.

The court further ordered Lumpkins to serve the first 6 months of her supervised release in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

The court also ordered Lumpkins to pay restitution to Chase Bank in the total amount of $5,876.

The case was investigated by the Rockford Office of the FBI, the Fox River Grove Police Department and the Cary Police Department.

The case was prosecuted in federal court by Assistant United States Attorney SCOTT A. VERSEMAN.

Silk Lumpkins sees a bowl of lollipops while robbing the Cary Chase Bank.

A year ago in June, Crystal Lake resident Silk Pauline Lumpkins was arrested in Fox River Grove.  On May 26, 2010, she had robbed the Chase Bank on Route 14 in Cary, Illinois.

She plead guilty in Rockford Federal Court today.  The press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office follows:

CRYSTAL LAKE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT TO ROBBERY OF CHASE BANK IN CARY, ILLINOIS

ROCKFORD – PATRICK J. FITZGERALD, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; ROBERT D. GRANT, Special Agent-In-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; RONALD K. LUKASIK, Chief of the Fox River Grove Police Department; and STEVEN CASSTEVENS, Chief of the Cary Police Department, today made the following announcement:

SILK P. LUMPKINS, 36, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing Chase Bank, 300 Northwest Highway, Cary, Illinois, on May 26, 2010.

Silk Lumpkins puts the sucker in her mouth.

In pleading guilty, Lumpkins admitted that at about 2:20 p.m. on May 26, 2010, she entered Chase Bank wearing a disguise consisting of

• heavy covering make-up on her face and hands,
• a long blonde wig, long-sleeved shirt, and
• a baseball cap.

Lumpkins further admitted that she wrote a note at the self-service desk, approached a teller at the counter, and handed the note to the teller that stated something to the effect of:

“If you don’t want to die today, give me all your money. You have 30 seconds to do this.”

Here Silk Lumpkins is sucking away at the lollipop meant for customers.

According to the plea agreement, the teller then removed $5,876 from her drawer and handed the money to Lumpkins. Lumpkins then put the money into a blue “Chase” deposit bag that she brought with her and walked out of the bank with the bag.

Lumpkins was arrested on June 2, 2010.

Sentencing for Lumpkins will be conducted on May 18, 2011, at 10:00 a.m.

Lumpkins faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and full restitution. The actual sentence will be determined by the United States District Court, guided by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The case was investigated by the Rockford Office of the FBI, the Fox River Grove Police Department and the Cary Police Department. The case is being prosecuted in federal court by Assistant United States Attorney SCOTT A. VERSEMAN.

The following press release has been released by the Fox River Grove Police Department:

Cary Bank Robbery Suspect arrested in Fox River Grove

June 02, 2010 at 12:09 P.M Fox River Grove police officers were dispatched to Chase Bank, 712 Northwest Highway, for a suspicious person outside the business.

Several callers indicated the female subject was wearing heavy, white make-up, what appeared to be a blond wig and a dark colored baseball cap which fit the description of the suspect that committed a Bank Robbery at Chase Bank on May 26, 2010 in Cary, Illinois.

Officers located a subject matching that description attempting to hide in a gold Chevrolet Ventura van in the parking lot of an apartment complex located at 601 School Street Fox River Grove.

The subject was detained then transported to Cary Police Department.

Following the subsequent investigation conducted by Cary Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, probable cause was established for charges in connection of the May 26, 2010 Bank Robbery in Cary, Illinois.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation filed formal charges this morning for Bank Robbery.

Fox River Grove Police Department does not have any charges to be filed at this time.

The identity of the suspect will be released by the United State’s Attorneys Office, Rockford Illinois at a later time.

When my son and I got to Cary we discovered people who had been at the Crystal Lake demonstration, 550 strong according to Libertarian Party Chair Dave Brady of Wonder Lake.

This was the third McHenry County TEA Party I visited April 15th. The second was on Route 62 in Algonquin.

We parked at Kelli’s Cuckoo’s Nest across from the Metra station. She offered free pizza to protesters. (All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.)

When I recognized some protest signs and asked what had happened in Crystal Lake, I was told that the Crystal Lake Police closed down the demonstration at one.

Apparently, Crystal Lake requires a permit and an insurance policy if more than 50 people are going to demonstrate and organizer Jim Thompson said his demonstration would be from noon to one.

So, a number of people just drove down the road to Cary.

There Cary Coffee Shop proprietor John Bobrytzke didn’t contact city government.

His location, across Main Street from the train station, didn’t attract many demonstrators. That was because people figured out that more motorists could see their signs from Route 14.

But Bobrytzke is the reason the demonstrators were there.

He stepped out in front and the rest of us followed him to bring the message to homebound commuters in Cary.

And, it’s a superb location for a protest, because not only motorists, but those taking the train could see their signs.

I’m sure the Metra engineers were not blowing their horns because of the signs, but, then again, I don’t ever remember hearing a train horn blast in Cary before.

Again, big trucks blowing their air horns brought a thrill to my body. Above you see a Crystal Lake-based W. Smith Cartage gasoline truck “blowing”around the corner past the old village hall.

Sometimes when the trucks and cars were not blowing their horns enough for one sign carrier, she pulled out a tiny air horn to make some noise.

Not that it was silent for long stretches.

This man was the chief horn honking cheer leader. He was so persistent.

And, when the folks on the street couldn’t get a honk, there were people like this lady with open windows giving the sign holders a “thumbs up.”

How far did people come?

This man, a sign shop owner from West Frankfort, IL, came up to Palatine to help out a buddy and they both came up to Cary for the demonstration.

I found an anti-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin sign in Cary.

Every once in a while another horn-blaring semi would breeze through town. Here’s one from Custom Companies.

As in Crystal Lake, a police presence was evident. In Cary, they weren’t in cars. They were standing in full view of the demonstrators. Pretty easy duty.

“Term Limits” were the answer to one man.

Another man had the simple message of

A bit longer, but quite understandable message was

Her friend’s says

One of the woman who drove down from the Crystal Lake event was pro-life leader Irene Napier. Her sign said,

Next to her on the Southeast corner of the intersection I saw the above.

There was one of the few non-homemade signs nearby.

A family of four was on the north side of the street. Two flag wavers and two sign carriers.

They could see this scene across the street if they looked. I like the sign held by the little girl saying,

A longer view of that side of the street showed this.

It was crowded in front of the little park with a pond next to the old Cary Village Hall.

There were two misplaced Obama supporters standing on the traffic island next to the railroad crossing. They were electricians whom I suppose were not working on tax payment day.