A deputy fire chief is being held in jail for attempted murder, home invasion, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated attempted criminal sexual assault and residential
burglary, in regards to a home break-in where he allegedly wore a ski mask and wielded a folding knife, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
G.S., 49 was arrested and charged on January 6. His bond has been set at $150,000. If he is able to post his bail, Cook County Circuit Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. has ordered that he wear an electronic monitoring device.
The fire official allegedly broke into a neighbor's home – they both reside in the same condominium building – in the 8100 block of West 16th Place in Tinley Park.
G.S., approximately a 24-year veteran with the fire department, was placed on leave. He promoted from firefighter to deputy chief about five years ago, according to Mayor Gene Siegel.
Siegel said, "I am surprised and shocked and do extend our best wishes to the victim. That was an awful thing that she had to endure. There was never anything in his history that would make you think something like this would happen. I don't think there was any indication that something was wrong … it's really weird and hard to believe that this happened. That he could have done something like this."
According to Assistant State's Attorney Dan Calandriello, G.S. broke into his neighbor's condo wearing a ski mask and carrying in a knife, duct tape, rope, a sex toy and lubricant.
Calandriello said that while the woman was asleep G.S. covered her mouth with his hand and showed her a 3-inch blade. He threatened to use the knife to slash her throat if she did not do as instructed.
G.S. gripped the woman's two hands, brought her to the condo's kitchen and held her against a cabinet, then forced her to the ground, grabbed her hair and slammed her on the ground several times.
The victim sustained a swollen lip and a knot on the back of her head.
Sometime during the attack the victim was able to flee through the back door of the condo. Witnesses saw G.S. tossing items, presumably from the attack, into a dumpster in on the condominium's property.
Colleen McSweeney Moore is the attorney representing G.S. Moore said that the entire incident was "out of character" for her client. In court Moore said that the attack might have been caused by an error in the deputy fire chief's prescribed medications.
Reporters, seeking further comment regarding the allegation that G.S.'s behavior was due to a medication mix-up, were unable to get any more information from Moore as she left the courtroom.
According to Tinley Park police, they received a call about a home invasion at approximately 2:35 a.m. on January 6. Once on the scene they discovered B.S. in the parking lot of the building. He was taken into custody. The woman was treated, at the scene, for minor injuries.
Facing one or more criminal charges requires that you contact a criminal defense attorney to plan your defense as soon as possible. Don't delay!
