OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed charges of
armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping of a child younger than 13,
unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated battery with a
Taser, aggravated battery with a knife, aggravated battery with an ax
handle and mob action against seven members of the Rockford charter of
the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club last week.
Charges were dropped against Richard Todd, Robert Bell, John
Savalick, Dariusz Achramowicz, Tomas Lech, Jose Velma and Christopher
Lawson. The men had been scheduled to stand trial starting today.
Prosecutors dismissed the charges after a judge named Joe McGraw refused
to delay the start of the trial so prosecutors could strengthen their
case against the seven.
Deputy State’s Attorney Jim Brun told television station WIFR
that the alleged victim in the case had refused to testify against the
accused and implied that he had been intimidated. “As I indicated, the
State’s Attorney’s responsibility is to provide a fair trial to all, so
we’re certainly not going to rush a case to trail just to say everyone
has their right to due process and everyone has their right to a fair
trial and part of that is to protect our, all our witnesses so that is
part of our decision making process that we deployed at this time,” Brun
said.
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides that: “In all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and
public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein
the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against
him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,
and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”
Three other defendants did begin trial today. Those men are Aloysius
Balice, Dennis R. Juno and Donald J. Hess. Four defendants named Bradley
Wilhelm, Earl Murray, Curt Lambert and Neal Resendez pled guilty to
lesser charges last week.
The Case
Prosecutors brought the charges against fourteen defendants in July 2013.
The state alleged that on June 27, 2013 the defendants confined an
unnamed Rockford man to the charter club house, hit him with an ax
handle, punched him, struck him with brass knuckles and a hammer,
Tasered him and stabbed him. Police claimed the men cooperated to steal
the victim’s wallet, keys and truck and that they detained an
11-year-old girl while the victim was assaulted. There are no
allegations that the child was harmed. The investigation started after
the victim went to a hospital for treatment and a motive has never been
specified. A usually informed source, speaking anonymously, identified
the victim as a former charter officer who had been accused of stealing
from the club.
At the time of the arrests, police also raided the clubhouse at 1109
Rock St. in Rockford, searched it and then condemned the building.
Rockford City Attorney Jennifer Cacciapaglia told the Rockford Register Star
that the clubhouse chimney and plumbing were falling apart, that wiring
was exposed, and that the building lacked smoke detectors and a fire
escape. “It’s going to be a pretty extensive list,” Cacciapaglia told
the paper. “There’s a portion of the roof that is in significant
disrepair. I don’t know how soon they’ll be able to address each item.”
Although condemned, the clubhouse is still owned by the club and is currently listed for sale for $59,000.
