Judge Refuses to Lower Bond in Baseball Bat Beating Cases

An 18-year-old resident, who the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office said is a high-ranking member of a gang, faced a DuPage County judge Monday for the first time since his arrest last month.

Nicolas Sanchez, 18, of Burr Ridge, and Jeremy Rush, 20, of Addison, each were charged with armed robbery, two counts of aggravated battery and attempted armed robbery in connection with two baseball bat beatings that took place in Villa Park on May 13. Rush was not present at Sanchez's hearing.

DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Lindt said Sanchez and Rush beat two men in the early morning hours of May 13, believing them to be members of a rival gang. The prosecution says Sanchez and Rush are members of the Latin Kings.

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Sanchez and Rush are in DuPage County Jail, each on $350,000 bail. Sanchez's attorney asked Judge Robert Kleeman Monday morning to reduce the $35,000 bond against him.

"He has no past failure to appear," said Chicago-based attorney Yvette Lopez. "He lives with his parents and three siblings in Burr Ridge ... is enrolled at the College of DuPage ... and has a 3-month-old daughter, for which he has visitation and pays child support."

Lopez asked the judge to release Sanchez with a GPS monitoring device, so that he could maintain his job over the summer.

Lindt asked the judge not to grant the request, saying that Sanchez has three cases pending against him and is on probation for six different cases, one for which he was released with the requirement to wear a GPS monitor.

"He has a repeated violent criminal history, and a GPS monitor did not prevent him from repeating the offense," said Lindt.

Lindt said Sanchez told officers at the time of his arrest, "Go ahead, and charge me. It'll just be six months in juvie."

The charges, for which Sanchez was in court today, stem from two baseball bat beatings that took place in the early morning hours of May 13.

The first beating took place around 12:15 a.m. A man was walking home from work when a brown Chevy Tahoe pulled up. He was wearing his work uniform at the time, which was black and red. Lindt said the colors of the uniform led his attackers to mistake him for a member of a rival gang. Lindt said that Sanchez and co-defendant Rush chased down the man and struck him in the head and back repeatedly with a baseball bat.

"This defendant held [the victim,] while he was pleading for his release and struck him," said Lindt. "They continued to stomp upon him while he was on the ground."

The victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was treated for a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain.

The second beating took place between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. near the train station in Villa Park.

"They believed [the victim] to be a rival gang member, because of the direction his hat was slightly tilted. They exited the vehicle, chased him down and confronted him," said Lindt. "They repeatedly struck him so strongly to the face that his nose broke."

Lindt said a witness saw the defendant and co-defendant return to a brown Chevy Tahoe with the victim's wallet and hat. Sanchez and a female minor were in a brown Chevy Tahoe when Villa Park Police stopped them and arrested Sanchez. Lindt said there was blood on Sanchez's clothes and shoes, and the victim's hat and wallet were found in the SUV.

Sanchez has yet to be indicted on the four charges for which he is in jail. Lindt said that the state expects the indictment to include 20 charges, none of which are probational. She said all of the charges are for gang-related offenses.

The judge denied the request for a reduction in bond.

Lopez declined to comment after the hearing.

Patch asked Burr Ridge Deputy Police Chief Tim Vaclav whether there has been any gang-related activity in the village and how the handles reports of gang members living in the village.

"Any pertinent information (intelligence) we may get regarding individuals who live in Burr Ridge is disseminated to officers in bulletins on a daily basis at roll calls," said Vaclav in an emailed response. "We are aware of the alleged activities of Mr. Sanchez."

Vaclav said the Latin Kings are not active in Burr Ridge.

Sanchez is scheduled to be back in court on June 11.

*Editor's Note: Specific addresses for Rush and Sanchez are not available. Further information on the three cases currently pending against Sanchez, and six for which he is on probation, also was not available. Information on any crimes committed while Sanchez was a minor will not be available to the media.