Chicago Man Guilty Of Attempted Murder For 2008 Shooting
JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) - A Chicago man has been found guilty of attempted murder for shooting a southwest suburban man four times while the victim was standing in his driveway in 2008.
Arturo Romero, 20, was also found guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm, according to a release from the Will County State's Attorney's office.
He faces up to 26 years in prison when he is sentenced by Associate Judge Edward Burmila on July 27, the release said.
Romero, who goes by the street name "Insane," was involved in an altercation with several others, including the victim's two sons, outside their Joliet home on the evening of Oct. 12, 2008, the release said.
During the fight, someone fired a BB gun from the car in which Romero was riding, and one of the victim's sons threw a rock that struck someone in the vehicle.
Shortly before midnight, Romero was driven back to the house after retrieving a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from a friend's house. He approached the victim and opened fire, striking him in the elbow and the ankle, the release said.
Romero fired again as the victim attempted to crawl away, striking him in the thigh and grazing his chest. He then fired two more rounds at the house when he heard one of the victim's sons shout, "Hey, that's my dad."
After the shooting, he ran around the block to the waiting car and jumped in, laughing and saying, "I got him. I got him. Let's go," the release said.
The victim survived and identified Romero from a photo lineup nearly two weeks later. Police retrieved the weapon after questioning Romero's friends, who testified against him. Ballistics testing on the casings retrieved from the crime scene showed they matched that weapon, the release said.
"Arturo Romero crept up in the night and fired several rounds at an innocent man and continued to advance on the wounded victim as he tried to crawl to safety in his own driveway," State's Attorney James Glasgow said in the release. "These are the actions of a vicious street thug whose callous disregard for human life warrants a lengthy prison sentence."
Two other defendants, David Hensley, 20, and Roberto Flores, 19, both of Joliet, are also facing charges in the case.
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