Man charged with pointing pellet gun at Naperville police before cop shot him

A man is facing felony charges after pointing a pellet gun at Naperville police officers last month, prompting one of the cops to shoot him.

At 10:36 p.m. Jan. 23, officers responded to a call of a man harassing a woman at a Mobil gas station at 1280 W. Ogden Ave., according to a statement from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. Minutes later, the officers found 27-year-old Zachary Kelley in the parking lot of a strip mall next to the gas station.

When the officers tried to talk to Kelley, he pointed the pellet gun at them, prosecutors said. Officers initially thought the weapon was a real gun, and one of them shot Kelley.

Officers “tended to Kelley’s injury” before he was taken to a hospital in serious condition, according to prosecutors and a statement from Naperville police after the shooting. The weapon, which was recovered at the scene, was later found to be a pellet gun.

“Our police officers put their lives on the line every day,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the statement. “Thanks to the professionalism displayed by the Naperville Police Department in this case, no officers or innocent bystanders were injured. I would like to thank the Naperville Police Department for their outstanding work apprehending the suspect in this case under extremely stressful circumstances. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kapas for her efforts these past several days.”

After being released from the hospital on Feb. 1, Kelley was taken to the DuPage County jail and charged with three counts of aggravated assault to a police office, prosecutors said. The following day, his bail was set at $100,000 during a court hearing.

Kelly, of Naperville, remains held at the jail awaiting at a Feb. 25 court date, prosecutors said.