Michael Tarm, AP
An Illinois grand jury on Wednesday formally indicted the father of a man charged with fatally shooting seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago, the Lake County State’s Attorney Office said.
The indictment charges Robert Crimo Jr., 58, with seven counts of reckless conduct. Prosecutors have said he helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license years before the shooting in Highland Park, even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence.
Sara Avalos, a spokesperson for the prosecutors office, confirmed the grand jury indictment and said the father will be arraigned Thursday.
Robert Crimo Jr. was arrested in December, also on seven felony counts of reckless conduct, one for each person killed. Each count carries a maximum 3-year prison term. The longtime resident and well-known figure in Highland Park was released after his arrest on a $50,000 bond.
At a brief hearing last month, prosecutors had told Judge George Strickland at a Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, north of Highland Park, they needed more time to present evidence to the grand jury.
In a brief statement released by his office later Wednesday, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the grand jury agreed the case against the father should move forward.
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Rinehart said.
George M. Gomez, the father’s Chicago-area attorney, said Wednesday evening that he couldn’t comment because he hadn’t yet seen the indictment. But he earlier called the accusations against his client “baseless and unprecedented.”
Rinehart has previously said the accusations against the father are based on his sponsorship of his son’s application for a gun license in December 2019. Authorities say Robert Crimo III attempted suicide by machete in April 2019 and in September 2019 was accused by a family member of making threats to “kill everyone.”
“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenagers should have a weapon,” Rinehart said after the father’s arrest. “In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew and he signed the form anyway.”
Authorities say Illinois State Police reviewed the son’s gun license application and found no reason to deny it because he had no arrests, no criminal record, no serious mental health problems, no orders of protection and no other behavior that would disqualify him.
Legal experts have said it’s rare for an accused shooter’s parent or guardian to face charges — in part because it’s difficult to prove such charges.
In one notable exception, a Michigan prosecutor in 2021 filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a teen accused of fatally shooting four students at his high school. A trial date was delayed while the state appeals court considers an appeal.
A grand jury indicted Robert Crimo III in July on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven people killed and dozens wounded in the attack at the holiday parade in Highland Park.
Robert Crimo Jr. has shown up at several of his son’s pretrial hearings, nodding in greeting when his son entered the courtroom shackled and flanked by guards. The father is a familiar face around Highland Park, where he was once a mayoral candidate and operated convenience stores.
Damn, I wouldn’t let that geek have a sharp pencil!
This. Parenting fail from the start.
How the heck do you commit suicide with a machete?
the same way with any sharp object, slice yourself open or old school seppuku.
the latter will be somewhat difficult unless one littoral implies themselves
It’s grandstanding to send a message to parents to keep close tabs on their accidents waiting to happen kids…and to blame firearms like salem witch hunters placed blame on carts, animals, innocents, etc.
guilty of poor judgement…be interesting to hear his explanation of why he did that…
Yea, this might not go any place in the end. The prosecution is going to need to prove that he knew his son would commit violence not that he had maybe ‘threatened’ or ‘thought’ to commit violence. But, another ‘time for popcorn’ moment it is.
Well…the punishment is ALSO the process.
Can personally attest to that. Nothing quite like being relieved of your Rights for a couple of years for a false charge.
I dunno . . . the “weapons of war” bullshit is over the top. But, if the kid is patently screwed up, and Dad helps the kid to get weapons, maybe Dad should answer for his actions. By all accounts, Dad should have been discouraging his retarded son from getting any weapons. The kid is responsible for the killings, what exactly is Dad responsible for? That really should be addressed, and a lot of parents around the country need to be thinking about the issue.
Speaking as a parent with a son he trusts implicitly, and another son he can’t trust at all, with another son who can mostly be trusted. How ’bout the rest of you parents? Do all of you trust all of your offspring, in any and all situations they might face? Think about it . . .
“How ’bout the rest of you parents? Do all of you trust all of your offspring, in any and all situations they might face?”
I trust no one, not even myself.
Yeah, kids proven to be violent or irresponsible don’t get to handle a pocketknife in the Boy Scouts, “Weapon of War” is irrelevant scaremongering.
I trust my kids. I still keep my firearms and ammo under lock unless I am carrying or using them. I just do not want anyone messing with them.
Wasn’t the “kid” like 20 years old? Why did he need his dad to sign anything? And are parents on the hook forever now, even though the kid isn’t a minor?
Yes, how many of us had to sign for our minor kids to get a driver’s license at 16?
If they then got in trouble afterwards in their 20s or 30s, would you all be okay with the DA knocking on YOUR door with an arrest warrant for facilitating them getting a license??
More than a legal adult in many parts of the world and just below the threshold in many others.
If I recall correctly the guy used a Kel-Tec chambered in a pistol cartridge. Can anyone think of what war those would have been used in?
“”If I recall correctly the guy used a Kel-Tec chambered in a pistol cartridge. Can anyone think of what war those would have been used in?”
If the weapon is a firearm, and the firearm is black and looks like it could be a machine gun, the firearm is a weapon of war.
I wonder if a world where parents are held accountable for the actions of their children would result in more two-parent households with eyes on their kids or way fewer as every parent, fearing the liability, abandons their offspring entirely.
Exactly!
I hope we take this further, lets go after every willing “Baby-Daddy” and “Baby-Momma” for participating in the creation of one parent households.
We dont have an “epidemic of gun violence” in this country if we dont have an epidemic of single parent/mother only households.
No–our Benevolent Overlords have deemed all of our problems are someone else’s fault.
Can’t wait to see how it all works out.
For reckless conduct they will need to prove that he knew his son was somehow likely to. But the dads argument should be that IL has FAOID cards and that he KNEW it was safe , because if his son ever got in trouble they would revoke his card.
I can only see this working IF the father lied on the application. If he filled it out truthfully , the state not him, actually gave the guy the gun license.
Now if he lied on a firearms application , that is arguably reckless behavior. But it honestly would be easier to go after him for perjury.
But the bureaucrats who issued the license probably have qualified immunity for any adverse outcomes.
If your adult “child” runs down people in a parade, are the parents liable because they helped purchase the SUV the killer used?
If your adult “child” will use said SUV to mow people down and you knew it,
then yes who ever helped buy the SUV is culpable.
Being a psychopath is not something you grow out of.
Rob S (as in STUPID) How is a parent who loans his SUV to his off spring supposed to know what the off spring is going to do with it?
Is your morbidly obese ass going to stalk me again Wally?
(As in 500lbs MORBIDLY OBESE and STALKING)
Your comment is about nothing I wrote. I never said loan and made it clear that the kid was a psychopath. If you help buy ANY psychopath buy a SUV then be prepared for the day when they run people over.
I never thought I would ever agree with dacian but you do seriously lack fundamental reading comprehension skills.
Go eat, your 500 lb ass needs food to counteract the fact that you took too much insulin. You are so fat that you wont be around to see how our 5 year bet turns out.
Rob S (as in STUPID) You bet I am following your sorry posterior. Every time you come out with one of your STUPID remarks, be advised, I’ll be there countering your asinine comment. What is clear is you are a liar.
Time for you to let the air out of your head.
Word is that you haven’t countered any remark I wrote.
Shall I post a picture of your morbidly obese ass?
You are just a big fat dacian and nothing else.
I almost feel sorry for you but I didn’t make you eat all of that food.
Hows does to be your and know you accomplished nothing in life?
Wally Hillbilly the third, give it a break or you will put in your place.
The key word you used is following, that’s you in a nutshell.
Rob S (as in STUPID) Maybe you should read what you wrote, STUPID. If you can come up with a picture of me at 500 lbs, it is doctored. I have never in my life weighted anywhere near that. I am not worried about you “putting me in my place”. I’m already there. STUPID. You better look in your “nutshell.”
“I have never in my life weighted anywhere near that.”
That one line is hysterical. I take it you aren’t a Rhodes Scholar.
If you weigh 450lbs then you are making progress.
Good for you Wally.
Rob S (as in STUPID), you know, I did not think it was possible, but you get stupider by the day. Especially with one like you who can’t even write a complete sentence that makes any sense. Did your parents have any children that lived? Or where you an abortion that went wrong? The only thing with any where near that much weight is the air in your head.
If the authorities know now that the kid was messed up back then, why didn’t they know it back then? If he attempted to kill himself back then and threatened to kill others, didn’t they know about it? Doesn’t that make them responsible for having issuing the FOID card?
Another Stone Cold case for Safe Storage laws.
If the Father had been required by law to keep the gun locked up in a safe perhaps his deraigned son would never have had access to the weapon.
And I might add buying a weapon of mass destruction for a kid who obviously had severe mental problems is the height of pure stupidity.
I have no sympathy if the Father goes to jail for his part in the tragedy. Even though there is no safe storage law for keeping the weapon locked up it would have just been common sense to keep it locked up, something the far right have a large, very large lack of in all things.
With your level of reading comprehension, I question whether you passed the 6th grade. The gun didn’t belong to the father, and he didn’t buy it. The gun belonged to the murderer, so safe storage laws would have nothing. The father’s “crime” was agreeing that his adult son under 21 could get an unconstitutional FOID card, which allowed him to then buy a gun.
to Anonomouse
Wrong. Since his kid lived with him he had the right to lay down rules if he wanted to live there.
So, are you living in her basement and following your mothers rules, dacian?
You’ve claimed to be a gun owner and a member of the SS, oops, I meant antifa. Does your mom know about this?
He didn’t live with his father, he lived with his mother.
The parents were divorced plus the kid’s a sociopath.
Pb_fan59 – “For sure he at least proves low oxygen saturation of the brain with every post.”
Paint or PVC cement huffing has that effect on the brain.
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, for your edification, once a son or daughter reaches the age of 18 in mst states, they are considered ADULTS. You are the rare exception. Within reason, they can do whatever they want.
dacian is low iq and low education. He proves it with every comment.
For sure he at least proves low oxygen saturation of the brain with every post.
He thinks he is superior because he attended a gender studies class ONCE at community college.
Note I did not say he completed or passed the course.
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, the father is not charged with not storing a firearm properly. He is charged because he seconded his son’s firearms ID card.
The ONLY thing here that is “stone cold” is what is in between your ears.
To Walter the Beverly Hillbilly
Your reading comprehension is at the 5th grade level. I never said he was charged with not storing a firearm properly. I said that if he had stored it properly that his nut case son would not have had access to the weapon of mass destruction that killed all those innocent people
NOW WHAT PART OF THIS DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND??????
Weapon of mass destruction? Did he use a nuke? Chemical weapons? How do you store an A bomb?
You’ve proven that you can be mentally ill and an idiot at the same time, dacian.
I see you’re running to your “MASTERS” to get the “ANSWERS” to your “MARXIST DRIBBLE”!!!!
If the son had the license and owned the guns, it would have been up to him for their storage.
Not sure if safe storage would have had any effect because the perp would still have the keys.
dacian, the DUNDEARHEAD, If that were true, I will still be five grade past your level of reading comprehension. The father had nothing to do with his storing any firearm. If in one hand and you know what is in the other. By your own word, he was living with his MOTHER. Did your parents have any children that lived?
if the kid was unstable he never should have signed for him…and who more than a parent would know that?
Ah yes, the oh so compelling case that if only your idea had been implemented then without doubt history would be different. Idiot.
I really shouldn’t give you advice on how to improve your shtick but, hey, I’m a helpful guy. To that end: Stop calling bog standard, medium powered rifles “weapons of mass destruction.” That is, unless, you enjoy being regarded as an idiot.
a “weapon of mass destruction” is something like a bomb…seems silly applying the term to a gun…unless you’re pushing an agenda…
” And I might add buying a weapon of mass destruction for a kid who obviously had severe mental problems is the height of pure stupidity.”
Nothing in the article suggest the father bought the firearm. It was his sponsorship of the FOID card that he is being held to account for. Reading comprehension.
“If the Father had been required by law to keep the gun locked up in a safe perhaps his deraigned son would never have had access to the weapon.”
The firearm was not his fathers property and I will explain something you do not know about the situation.
“I have no sympathy if the Father goes to jail for his part in the tragedy. Even though there is no safe storage law for keeping the weapon locked up it would have just been common sense to keep it locked up, something the far right have a large, very large lack of in all things.”
You do know on July 4th 2022 that he was 21 years old? DOB is September 20, 2000. That means he was at the age of full majority in Illinois when he committed his crime. He would have been eligible to apply for his FOID on his own as well. Consider he did not commit an offense before he turned 21, how do you hold his father responsible? He had plenty of time from his birthday to the 4th of July to obtain a FOID which would not have required parental consent and to buy the firearm. And yes, because the background check would have returned the same, he would have received the FOID. Had he not been 21 at the time, you might have had a case, but when the actual facts are looked at, that case becomes weak.
The facts change the entire context of what occurred and how people are reacting.
would agree…a bit weak…they’re just grandstanding….
This is a stretch of the words “reckless”. But given the political climate in Chicago area, it just might fly.
So, in America we can’t decide at what age a person becomes an adult. Is it 18 or 21 or 26? The shooter is an indefensible scumbag, but the anti-2A prosecutor is a total douchebag.
The one thing we know for sure is that 6 year olds can consent to sex, 8 year olds can opt into reassignment surgery and 12 year olds can vote.
Everything else though is up in the air.
The whole idea of lowering voting age is a pretext to lower or eliminate the age of consent.
I think it’s more to get the vote of those currently in the indoctrination camps public schools before they have a chance to learn the truth of the propaganda that’s been foisted on them for years.
But yeah, prolly that is another motivation as well.
I think there’s actually an international agreement that says a kid isn’t an adult until age 26.
think that would have flown on December 8th 1941?…..
Can’t even determine what a woman is…are you really surprised by the age disparities?
What’s that old saying? “Persecutors can indict a ham sandwich.”
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held oral argument today in a major Second Amendment case. Range v. Garland, over the issue of whether non-violent felons under federal law lose their 2nd Amendment rights forever.
To repeat something I posted yesterday or the day before about this very screwed up kid:
“That 19-year-old was on the radar, a “clear and present danger report”
was filed with the Illinois State Police and that follows you.
His father vouched for his FOID even after he said he planned to “kill everyone”.
The whole thing could have been avoided if the ISP did their job.
The whole thing could have been avoided if the ISP did their job is key here, regardless of the father vouching for him, the ISP had a C&PD report on file.
“Law enforcement identified two prior encounters with Crimo: a 911 call in April 2019 reporting that he attempted to commit suicide and a September 2019 incident regarding alleged threats by Crimo to a family member. In September 2019, police seized 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from Crimo after a family member reported to the police that he planned to “kill everyone”.
A clear and present danger report on file with the Illinois Stat Police is an automatic disqualifier for a FOID and the ISP HAD one on file. I could cite relevant statutes but that would take time I don’t have. The moral is this not some BS report, it is something that a shrink, school principle or a high ranking (Chief of PD) files and puts their name on it. The result is usually a 72 hour pysch hold or 5150 hold.
The FOID is severely flawed and to repeat: The whole thing could have been avoided if the ISP did their job but hey lets just make more gun laws that hurt the law abiding.
Robert Crimo Jr. is going to say that he was divorced and lived somewhere else as his excuse but he knew his kid was seriously screwed up and shouldn’t have vouched for him.
Basically Crimo Jr. and especially the Illinois State Police are both culpable. They should also charge Brendan Kelly, the Illinois State Police Director and before that the head of the Firearms Services Bureau.
I don’t disagree but I live in ILLANNOY too. Get rid of the FOID. I’m trying to get rid of my ILL residency where I get blamed for the crime of Incel freaks🙄
it’s a goofy system…the rest of the country just shakes their heads in amazement…
His recklessness started long before the gun was purchased!
I like this and hope they lock him up for the maximum term, we need to send a message that every kid is not a snowflake and that parents MUST take steps to assure that their offspring are not sociopaths.
I hope the victims families go after him with civil suits as well.
Illinois has an unconstitutional gun permit scheme, that requires everyone to get a state permission slip to own a firearm. That in and of itself should render this case moot. If the “Kid” was an adult at the time of the crime, it’s going to be hard to convict the father or anything, unless he lied on the form or somehow circumvented the law. Since he doesn’t stand accused of these things, charges should have never been brought. Maybe the state should arrest itself, LOL. It is Illinois so they will likely find him guilty and give him the whole 21 year sentence. He should have just dealt drugs in Chicago and shot a few folks for fun and he won’t even of had to post a bond to get released from custody.
He lied on the form, he knew his kid was a sociopath.
“In September 2019, police seized 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from Crimo after a family member reported to the police that he planned to “kill everyone”.
The father is an egotistic idiot who was a local bigwig but lets be serious,
whether he lived with the kid or not he failed humanity.
OTOH so did the Illinois State Police, a “clear and present danger report”
is like telling a shrink that you plan on going on a killing spree.
Regardless of what state you live in, except a knock on the door.
They have to report it to the ISP just like the Highland Park PD chief did.
As they say, that is going on your permanent record and the ISP dropped the ball.
The father and the ISP should both be held accountable.
My bet is that he will be found guilty on all 7 charges and get probation.
“weapons of war” is playing to emotion and scare mongering and phobia and bias. No one helped this killer get a ‘weapon of war’. A firearm well yeah he did have a firearm, but ‘weapon of war’ he did not have.
he should have used a politically correct, President Biden recommended 12 gauge shotgun loaded with “harmless” buckshot.
The part of this that I find so funny is that parents are general responsible for their under 18 children regardless. This has nothing to do with guns. It’s a generally accepted aspect of society. A parent is responsible for giving their irresponsible minor children deadly things. For this to be in question to the point of needing to be said is something I find to be absurd.
My parents didn’t sign for a damn thing. They gave me my first firearm for Christmas when I was twelve. With ammo. Dad and I shot it before dinner that day and I hunted with it the next morning. Alone. I had already been hunting with “family firearms” alone for a couple of years. After supervion by every uncle, senior cousin since I was five. This was standard practice for every childhood friend I knew. None have ever been involved in a homicide of any discrimination.
Ok, so we’ve got rafts of teenage gangsters shooting each other. I’ll be waiting to see how many of their “parents/guardians” get charged with anything. Still waiting to see the gangsters themselves face charges. I’m not holding my breath.
Cultural expression.
only if they enabled them in some formal way…this guy did….
KARMA ?? , WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND …
SHAME DAD DIDN’T OR WOULDN’T HAVE BETTER WATCH , CONTROL OVER HIM …
HMMMM Ive never heard of a black ILL parent being held accountable for their gang-banger childs actions???? Have you ???
Good. Generally speaking, someone above 18 shouldn’t have to be “sponsored” at all to buy a gun. But when someone has the history that this creep did, and you “sponsor” him, you should be on the hook if you’re wrong and he goes and kills a bunch of people thanks to your efforts.
I look forward to the day when the government starts arresting single mothers. For the crimes that their children commit. And then laugh at the circumstances that the government helped create, that would help facilitate our current social problems.
bit like co-signing a loan….
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