Father of accused Highland Park parade shooter gets a trial date

Robert E. Crimo Jr. is set to go on trial Nov. 6 in Lake County Court.

SHARE Father of accused Highland Park parade shooter gets a trial date
Attorney George Gomez, left, talks to media as Robert E. Crimo Jr., looks on after an appearance at the Lake County, Ill., Courthouse, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Waukegan, Ill. Crimo Jr., faces seven counts of felony reckless conduct for signing the application for his son’s firearm owners ID card in December of 2019.

Robert Crimo Jr., right, is set to go on trial Nov. 6 on seven counts of reckless conduct in relation to the Highland Park parade shooting.

Nam Y. Huh/AP file

The father of the alleged Highland Park parade shooter will go on trial Nov. 6 on charges of reckless conduct for signing his son’s application for a firearm owner’s identification card.

Lawyers in the case said Friday that they expect the trial to last about one week.

Robert E. Crimo Jr., who is charged with seven counts of reckless conduct, waived his right to a jury trial and will instead have Lake County Judge George Strickland decide the case. Prosecutors say Crimo signed his son’s FOID application while knowing his son had expressed “violent ideations” and had threatened to kill himself and his family.

Robert E. Crimo III is accused of firing on the crowd of last year’s Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and wounding 48 others. Both the father and son have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

The son is being held at Lake County Jail. The father has been free since posting a $50,000 bond after he was charged in December.

Also Friday, Strickland discussed prosecutors’ efforts to have the son’s school records allowed in as evidence during the father’s trial. Prosecutors say they want to be able to present information that might have shown the son “acting out” in school and the school notifying his parents about the behavior.

Strickland didn’t rule on the request, to which defense attorneys have objected, but noted the records are “not voluminous” and that “there are some limited reports that go to disciplinary issues.”

The defense says the records aren’t relevant because the Highland Park parade shootings happened long after Robert E. Crimo III graduated from high school.

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