Man gets 7 1/2 years for shooting man who defended woman in Elgin

A northwest suburban man has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for shooting a man in the foot after the victim came to the aid of a woman in Elgin two years ago.

Judge Susan Clancy Boles handed down the sentence Wednesday to 26-year-old Nikolis D. Thurnau, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.

Thurnau was convicted of aggravated discharge of a firearm on June 19, a statement from prosecutors said.

About 11 p.m. on July 18, 2013, a woman stopped her car at an apartment building in the 300 block of Raymond Street in Elgin, according to the state’s attorney’s office. She walked up to see a friend, who it turned out wasn’t home.

As she was walking back to her car, Thurnau walked out of the building. She asked him a question and he punched her, prosecutors said. A man who was the woman’s acquaintance then got out of her car and confronted Thurnau for punching her.

Thurnau then asked a friend to get a gun, and the friend gave him a .40-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. He then used the gun to shoot the man in the right foot.

Thurnau’s criminal history includes a 2007 conviction for property damage, and a 2009 conviction for trespassing – both in Cook County; as well as Kane County convictions for theft, aggravated battery, retail theft, domestic battery and resisting a police officer, the state’s attorney’s office said.

He must serve at least 85 percent of his 7 1/2-year sentence, prosecutors said. He was given credit for 730 days served in the Kane County Jail.