By Art Barnum
Tribune staff reporter
VILLA PARK, Ill. — A Villa Park man was found guilty Friday of firing a gun as two police officers chased him in October 2006 – but he was acquitted of attempted-murder charges.
Genaro Villanueva, 30, of Villa Park admitted having a handgun last year when Villa Park Officers Daniel McCann and James Krupiczowicz responded to a call about suspected gang activity in the 500 block of Division Street.
But he claimed it went off as he tossed it away while fleeing, defense attorney David Sotomayor told a DuPage County jury Thursday.
After the verdict, Villanueva, who has been in the county jail for the past year, had his $1 million bail revoked. DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell set Dec. 7 for sentencing. Because the incident involved police officers, he faces 10 to 40 years in prison for aggravated discharge of a firearm.
During the two-day trial the officers testified that they heard a gunshot and smoked gunpowder but never saw the weapon, which was never found.
“It comes down to who do you believe, honest cops or a gang banger,” said Assistant State’s Atty. Joseph Ruggiero. “What is this guy doing carrying around a loaded weapon in a high-crime gang area?”
Sotomayor told the jury that he questioned one piece of evidence -- a small-caliber bullet that the officers said they found at the scene several days after the shooting. A previous search by investigators failed to locate the bullet or any forensic evidence.
“He was guilty of carrying a gun, but not of the charges he has against him in this trial,” said Sotomayor.
Ruggiero countered that if the police officers wanted to falsely bolster their story, they would have claimed they saw the gun pointed directly at them, but they testified they didn’t see the weapon or a gunfire flash.
Copyright 2007 The Chicago Tribune