Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Huntley, IL
Nearby: Huntley, ILA Huntley police officer has been reassigned after the department received a cybertip linked to a school bus driver in 2022 but did not arrest him on child sexual abuse material charges until last month. Jon M. Roth, 43, of Huntley, a Huntley Community School District 158 school bus driver who parents say drove preschool routes, was charged with 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material depicting a victim under 13 years old, a Class 2 felony. The Huntley Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that it received a previous cybertip linked to Roth in 2022. Roth was not arrested until years later, on October 20. Prosecutors said the investigation that led to Roth’s arrest began when the Huntley Police Department received another cybertip in August from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). That tip originated from Google, which had flagged files containing suspected child sexual abuse material associated with one of its accounts.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Algonquin, IL
Nearby: Algonquin, ILA pedestrian suffered a head injury after being struck by a vehicle turning at an intersection in Algonquin and a medical helicopter was requested but unavailable, authorities said. The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District and Algonquin Police Department responded around 9:18 a.m. on October 2 to the area of Algonquin Road and Sandbloom Road in Algonquin for a report of a vehicle crash. Emergency crews arrived and found a pedestrian on the ground who was conscious and breathing with a head injury, according to fire department radio traffic. Algonquin Police Department Sgt. Johnny Beltran said a vehicle was in the southbound lanes of Countryside Drive, which becomes Sandbloom Road south of the intersection, waiting to turn left onto eastbound Route 62, also known as Algonquin Road. Witnesses reported the vehicle had a green turn arrow and the pedestrian signal “displayed do not cross,” Beltran said.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Cary, IL
Nearby: Cary, ILA teenage girl was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries after being hit by a vehicle and found lying in the road near a crosswalk in Cary Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said. The Cary Fire Protection District and Cary Police Department responded just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to the intersection of Cary-Algonquin Road and Norman Drive in Cary for a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Dispatchers relayed to responding crews that one person was on the ground and not moving, according to fire department radio traffic. Paramedics arrived within moments and found a teenage girl lying in the roadway near the crosswalk next to the intersection, Cary Fire Protection District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said. The intersection, which has a marked pedestrian crosswalk with crossing signs, is just down the road from the fire district’s Station 1 at 400 Cary-Algonquin Road.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Woodstock, IL
Nearby: Woodstock, ILA former elementary school counselor and swim team coach in Woodstock who is charged with offering sex for money online allegedly lied to police that someone was impersonating her on a fetish website before her arrest. Renee J. Walker, 52, of Woodstock, is charged with one count of disorderly conduct by filing a false police report, a Class 4 felony, and three counts of prostitution, all Class A misdemeanors. Walker was a counselor at Dean Street Elementary School in Woodstock and also coached high school girls swimming, Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 said in a statement. Walker was the head coach of the Woodstock co-op girls swim team and 2026 was set to be her 13th season in the role, Woodstock Blue Streak Athletics previously said.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Woodstock, IL
Nearby: Woodstock, ILA police officer was evaluated by paramedics after a driver rear-ended a squad car as the officer responded to a burglar alarm at a residence near Woodstock. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 6:09 p.m. on October 28 to the 10300 block of Country Club Road in unincorporated Woodstock for a report of a burglar alarm. A Woodstock Police Department officer also responded to assist the sheriff’s office, Woodstock Police Chief John L. Lieb said. The officer was positioning his marked squad car so he could get out and approach the home when a vehicle came up behind him and struck the squad car, Lieb said. The driver of the other vehicle said he did not see the squad car’s taillights and “did not see the squad car until it was too late,” Lieb said. The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District responded around 6:20 p.m. to the crash, which involved the Woodstock police squad car and a small BMW SUV, Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Woodstock, IL
Nearby: Woodstock, ILA bomb squad, the FBI and National Guard representatives responded after a homeowner found what looked like a U.S. Army rocket in a tree near Woodstock Tuesday but was actually a hobby model rocket. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday to the 15300 block of Kishwaukee Valley Road in unincorporated Woodstock for a report of a suspicious incident. The homeowner had found an object hanging about 30 feet above the ground in a tree, Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said. The homeowner reported the object had landed in her tree, had U.S. Army on its side and looked like a rocket or a missile with a parachute and an engine, according to police radio traffic. Vucha said firefighters were requested a short time later to help assess the situation and establish safety measures. Fire crews were dispatched around 8:45 a.m., according to fire department radio traffic.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · McHenry, IL
Nearby: McHenry, ILA Crystal Lake man already serving a federal prison sentence for an $8 million Ponzi scheme was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to stealing from a McHenry veterans group while he was its commander. Alan J. Hanke, 62, of Crystal Lake, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of theft of property valued between $10,000 and $100,000, a Class 2 felony, as part of a negotiated plea agreement, court records show. McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis sentenced Hanke to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, followed by one year of mandatory supervised release. Davis ordered the sentence to run concurrently with the federal prison sentence Hanke is serving for his role in an $8 million Ponzi scheme. Truth-in-sentencing guidelines require the sentence to be served at 50%, court documents show. Hanke was given credit for 268 days already spent in custody, which covers one day in September 2024 and every day since February 19.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · McHenry, IL
Nearby: McHenry, ILAn insurer is suing to avoid paying for the crash that killed a U.S. Marine veteran on the Fox River near McHenry and records show the accused boater swore he could not pay his lawyers months after his family’s firm paid $454K for his pontoon. Richard M. Stevenson, 45, of Lisle, who is also known as Ricky Stevenson, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 25 death of Magdalena Jablonska, 48, of Des Plaines, along with four counts each of aggravated driving under the influence and operating a watercraft under the influence, which are Class 2 felonies. Stevenson is also the defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in August by Michelle Macias, the special administrator of the estate of her sister, Jablonska, and Jablonska’s fiancé, Alan Telmini, who was injured in the crash. McHenry County Judge Joel D.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · McHenry, IL
Nearby: McHenry, ILThe Chicago deep dish chain Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria is expanding to McHenry with a carryout, delivery and catering location set to open next spring that city officials called “a great addition to our community.” Lou Malnati’s will occupy a 1,630-square-foot space at 1777 North Richmond Road in the McHenry Grounds shopping center, the company said in a statement. The McHenry store will be the company’s 71st location and will offer carryout, delivery and catering, giving McHenry-area residents a closer way to get the chain’s signature deep dish pizza and other menu favorites, the company said. “As we continue to grow throughout the Chicagoland area, we’re focused on bringing Lou Malnati’s to more communities where we have unmet customer demand,” Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria CEO Julie Younglove-Webb said.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Round Lake, IL
Nearby: Round Lake, ILThe legal team for a Round Lake mother held by ICE in a Kentucky jail for more than 15 months over two old retail theft cases said in an update Tuesday that she was granted a $7,500 bond and is awaiting release. Beata Siemionkowicz, 57, of Round Lake, has been held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more than 15 months, mostly at the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport, Kentucky. Siemionkowicz was granted bond at a hearing before an immigration judge Friday and the bond was set at $7,500, ACLU of Illinois Director of Communications and Public Policy Ed Yohnka said Tuesday. “We continue to await her release,” Yohnka told Lake and McHenry County Scanner. Siemionkowicz was still listed at the Campbell County Detention Center Tuesday morning, according to ICE’s online detainee locator. It was not immediately known when she would be released.
Lake and McHenry County Scanner · Mundelein, IL
Nearby: Mundelein, ILPolice officers in riot gear lined up outside the Mundelein Village Hall as protesters left a board meeting where the family of a woman fatally shot by a police sergeant again demanded he be fired. The Village of Mundelein held its regular board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the village hall two weeks after protesters shut down the board’s October 26 meeting and 11 days after they forced a recess at a rescheduled meeting held under heavy police security on October 29. The family of Mary Alice Love, 37, of Mundelein, and their supporters are demanding the firing of Mundelein Police Sgt. Christopher Brigano, who fatally shot Love at her family’s home on May 11. Video published by the Lake County chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) shows at least 10 police officers wearing helmets, several with face shields, standing in a line outside the village hall in the dark as protesters carrying signs walk past them.
