Two held in Elgin drive-by shooting
From Staff Reports June 19, 2012 5:00PM
Updated: July 21, 2012 6:13AM
ELGIN — Police have arrested two Elgin men in connection with a west-side shooting Monday night near a school holding a gang intervention program.
No one was injured in the shooting, although at least one bullet pierced a nearby garage, police said.
Anthony Robledo, 18, was arrested Tuesday at his home in the 2000 block of Monday Drive, police said. He was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, Class 1 felony, and was expected to appear in Kane County bond call Wednesday morning.
In addition, police also arrested a 17-year-old Elgin man on a misdemeanor charge of unlawful contact with a street gang member in connection with the case.
The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. Monday and just a block from Abbott Middle School, where the Elgin Police Department’s “Kids United” summer activity program — designed to keep youths from getting into trouble — was going on at the school. No one was known to have been hurt.
Elgin Police Cmdr. Glenn Theriault said the shooting occurred in the 0-100 block of Mallery Avenue.
Witnesses said a car drove up in front of a home at the corner of Shuler Street and Mallery Avenue, and one man with a pistol got out of the car and fired about five shots toward a group of young men walking on the sidewalk in front of the home’s garage, which faces Shuler Street. The shooter then got back into the car and it drove away.
The homeowners said one bullet went through the metal garage door and struck a carpet-cleaning machine inside the garage.
Witnesses said the youths being targeted left the scene but were found by police about a block away and were questioned by police.
“Our goal is to prevent kids from joining gangs altogether, as evidenced by our Kids United program going on a few blocks away,” said Police Chief Jeffrey Swoboda. “But when a cowardly crime like this occurs, it is all hands on deck until that gang member is off the street and behind bars. Once again, I am extremely proud of the work this community’s officers do on a regular basis keep our neighborhoods safe.”
