Highland Park parade massacre suspect’s father released from jail early for good behavior

The Highland Park massacre suspect’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., was released from custody Wednesday for good behavior after serving half of the sentence he’d been given last month for helping his son get a firearm owner’s identification card when he was underage.

Crimo had been sentenced to 60 days in jail after pleading guilty Nov. 6 to misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct. The charge allows the detainee to be released after serving only half the sentence if they exhibit good behavior while in custody.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart had said the guilty plea will serve as a “beacon” for prosecutors across the country to hold parents accountable for the actions of their children.

“We’ve laid down a marker to other prosecutors, to other police in this country, to other parents, that they must be held accountable,” said Rinehart, who brought the charges last December.

Rinehart said at the time the plea brings “some closure” to the father’s role in the shooting.

Crimo was charged with felony reckless conduct for signing the state gun ownership card application for his son in 2019 when his son was too young to do so himself. Prosecutors said Crimo signed it despite knowing his son had threatened an unrelated mass shooting a few years before allegedly opening fire from a rooftop in Highland Park on July 4, 2022, killing seven people and wounding 48 others, prosecutors said.

The shooting suspect was 19 when he received the Firearm Owner’s Identification card, two years short of the age at which he could have received it without a parent or guardian’s signature.

The last-minute plea deal spared Crimo from a potential three-year sentence had he been found guilty of felony reckless conduct charges.

He reported to jail on Nov. 15 wearing a T-shirt reading, “I’m a political pawn.” The back of the shirt read “Laws, facts, reality.”

The shirt was inside out by the time Crimo appeared in court that day, but the judge still reprimanded him for breaking court rules and threatened him with contempt of court if he did so again.

“Did you read the rules?” Judge George Strickland asked him.

Crimo admitted he had not.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

His son, Robert Crimo III, is accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens more at the Highland Park Independence Day parade on July 4, 2022.

On Monday, Crimo III dismissed his assistant public defenders and told the judge he plans to represent himself at trial in February.

Judge Victoria Rossetti questioned Crimo III’s request for several minutes, asking if he understood the consequences of the charges and that he had no courtroom experience.

“Knowing these potential penalties, do you still want to proceed without an attorney?” the judge asked.

Crimo III replied with a curt “Yes.”

Prosecutors now have a little over two months to prepare for a complicated trial that Rossetti said could last four to six weeks, with jury selection that could take “seven to 10 days, if not more.”

It’s unclear why Crimo III chose to waive his right to legal representation.

Crimo III, 23, has pleaded not guilty to 117 felony counts of allegedly firing an assault rifle at paradegoers from a rooftop at Central Avenue and Second Street in north suburban Highland Park. He will receive a life sentence if convicted of just two of the 21 murder counts.