Latest news with #Rietz
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Urbana man charged with hate crime on U of I campus following erratic behavior
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — An Urbana man has been charged with a hate crime that occurred on the University of Illinois campus after a month of erratic behavior. On Wednesday, 39-year-old Tyler Kirkwood was arrested by the University of Illinois Police Department, and the Champaign County State Attorney's Office charged him with a hate crime. It came after an Asian student on U of I's campus claims he was chased and threatened with violence this week. Champaign School Board president responds after tense meeting outing superintendent 'His behaviors have been escalating to the point that he is dangerous,' said Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz Wednesday was the latest, but not the only incident Kirkwood has allegedly caused. Campus police were called for two other outbursts over the last month. Currently, he's being held at the Champaign County Correctional Center. As Rietz explains, all three situations included threats and racial harassment directed towards people on campus. 'It's unfortunate that we are put in the position sometimes of using the criminal justice system to get people the mental health treatment that they need,' Rietz said. That's been the case for Kirkwood. He's had three separate incidents on campus over the last 30-days. The first came on April 30, when witnesses said Kirkwood was yelling threats outside a U of I sorority house. 'He was yelling he was going to burn the house down,' Rietz said. 'And they took him to Carle at that time for an involuntary admission, and he stayed for a few days.' Champaign restaurant asks for help after cameras catch teens damaging property Fast forward to May 15, and officials were called once again after Kirkwood yelled at people on Wright and Green Streets. 'In the course of that conversation, he said specifically that he was upset with foreign students and that he felt they were taking our land,' Rietz said. The third incident happened the afternoon of May 28 on Springfield Avenue in Champaign and involved an Asian student. Rietz said Kirkwood asked the student for money, and that the student said he didn't have any. 'In response to that, Mr. Kirkwood started using racial slurs and threatening him, saying, 'I'm going to crack your head' or 'I should crack your head' and 'get out of this town,'' Rietz said. Rietz also said Kirkwood followed the victim with an object that appeared to be knife or pipe. Police were then called again, and they arrested Kirkwood on campus. He was then taken to the county jail, after Rietz's Office decided his actions met the criteria of a hate crime. 'Alternatives have been tried. Involuntary and voluntary commitment, medication, supports have been tried and his behaviors are escalating,' Rietz said. 'And so, this is what we feel we have to do to protect the public and to protect him.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
U of I student facing additional charge for pro-Palestine protests
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A University of Illinois student is facing a misdemeanor charge, in addition to an original felony charge, for her role in pro-Palestine protests on campus last April. This makes 18-year-old Yafa Issa's case more similar to the several other defendants charged from the protests. Issa's lawyer said she was part of a group who set up a symbolic tent encampment to show solidarity with the refugees of Gaza. Judge denies motion to dismiss mob action charge for U of I student protestor Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said nine people were charged after a U of I Police investigation into the protests. She also said, in many cases, defendants were charged with both the felony mob action charge and with misdemeanor resisting a peace officer. The newer misdemeanor charge against Issa could work in her favor if her case plays out similarly to other defendants who faced the same charges. 'There have been already two people who plead guilty, and the agreement in those cases was they plead guilty to the misdemeanor resisting case,' Rietz said. 'The minimum sentence for resisting is, generally speaking, 100 hours of public service work and court costs, so those two people who plead guilty accepted that agreement for conditional discharge and public service work, and in exchange we dismissed the felony count.' The felony charge carries a punishment of up to three years in prison. Like Rietz said, of the nine people charged, two plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge in exchange for dismissal of the felony charge. She said one person had their case dismissed after reviewing U of I police evidence, public service involvement and taking accountability for their actions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
New details revealed in Urbana hit-and-run crash; suspect denied pretrial release
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — As a man was arraigned Wednesday for a deadly hit-and-run crash in Urbana, the Champaign County State's Attorney revealed previously unknown details on what he allegedly did before and after that crash happened. Julio Cucul Bol, a 29-year-old citizen of Guatemala, sat in the same seat of the jury box he sat in the previous day, now able to understand what was being said thanks to a new translator. Originally charged with five counts, he was arraigned on seven (listed in descending severity): 2 counts of failure to report a crash resulting in death (class 1 felonies) 1 count of aggravated DUI resulting in a crash and death (a class 2 felony) 2 counts of reckless homicide with a motor vehicle (class 3 felonies) 1 count of aggravated DUI resulting in a crash and great bodily harm (a class 4 felony) 1 count of failure to report a crash resulting in injury (a class 4 felony) If convicted on all counts, Bol could be sentenced to over 20 years in prison. Arthur Police reveal new details on attempted kidnapping; suspect is detained As part of the proceedings, State's Attorney Julia Rietz provided evidence to give background on the crash and to explain to Judge Brett Olmstead why Bol should be detained before his trial. She said a roommate of Bol's told police that he and Bol had been out drinking at three bars the night of Jan. 18 and the morning of Jan. 19. Surveillance footage obtained from the last two bars showed Bol consumed multiple mixed drinks and shared buckets of beer with his roommate. Bol and the roommate were separated when the two of them got into a fight at the third bar — the Axe Bar in downtown Champaign — and security kicked Bol out. The roommate didn't see him again for the rest of the night. Footage from the Axe Bar showed Bol getting into a red Mitsubishi SUV, driving away at 1:52 a.m. and turning onto University Avenue. Rietz said that three minutes later, the SUV rear-ended a Honda Civic at University and Coler Avenues in Urbana. Surveillance footage from that intersection showed the Civic was completely stopped at a red light. Rietz said the airbag control modules from the SUV indicated it was traveling at 78 miles per hour when it slammed into Civic. The brakes were applied just half a second before impact and there was little to no attempt to steer out of the way, Rietz added. Five people were inside the Civic. Two passengers suffered 'minimal injuries' while the driver suffered multiple fractured ribs and broken vertebrae, among other injuries. The other two passengers, however, died from their injuries. Decatur man convicted of murder appeals life sentencing for the 2nd time Surveillance footage also showed the driver of the SUV getting out of the vehicle and running from the scene. Rietz said the vehicle was registered in the name of 'Juan Jahaziel Saenz-Suarez,' a name that also appeared on a Chase Bank statement and Mexican identification documents found inside the SUV. Also inside the SUV were two open cans of beer, an iWatch and a black hat. It was later determined that the Mexican documents were fake and that 'Juan Jahaziel Saenz-Suarez' is an alias used by Bol, a Guatemalan citizen. Rietz added that Bol allegedly called his roommate multiple times on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 to say he had been in a single-vehicle crash and needed money to get out of the United States. The roommate said he sent money to a third party he believed was helping Bol. When police made contact with him, the roommate provided them with photos he took with Bol the night of the crash. Rietz said that in those photos, Bol was wearing the iWatch and the hat officers found inside the wrecked SUV. An arrest warrant was issued for Bol in the name of his alias and on Jan. 22, the U.S. Marshals Service tracked him down to Milford, Texas. Rietz said Bol was aboard a bus bound for Mexico and when he was arrested, he had fake Mexican documents identifying him by his alias and pages of writing samples — he was practicing signatures of his alias, Rietz said. The Marshals also found a cell phone with Bol, Rietz said. When Urbana Police executed a search warrant on it, officers found more photos taken the morning of the crash and GPS data corroborated Bol's roommate's account. Rietz said the phone had gone to all of the places the roommate claimed to have visited with Bol the morning of the crash and the data revealed a critical piece of evidence — the phone was located at University and Coler one minute before the crash. Former U of I doctor pleads guilty to videotaping people in hospital bathroom All of this was to argue that Bol should be detained ahead of his trial. Rietz said it was 'clear and convincing' that Bol had committed detainable offenses and that he is a danger to the community, specifically by being a flight risk. 'It is clear that this case meets the definition of willful flight, not merely fleeing the scene of the crash but also fleeing from this jurisdiction and only being located through the work of multiple law enforcement agencies and the federal Marshals,' Rietz said. 'Clearly it is the definition of intentional conduct with a purpose to thwart the judicial process to evade prosecution.' Reviewing the pretrial investigation report and Rietz's fact presentation, Judge Olmsted found that the state had met its burden in providing 'clear and convincing evidence' that Bol committed the crimes he was accused of, that he was a flight risk and that no conditions of release could prevent Bol from fleeing. He ordered Bol to be denied in the Champaign County Jail ahead of his trial. 'There are no conditions of release that could stop or even mitigate the high likelihood that Mr. Bol would disappear and never be seen again,' he said. Bol is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 12. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
