LAKE COUNTY, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Robert Crimo Jr, the father of the Highland Park Parade shooting suspect, pleaded NOT guilty to reckless conduct charges Thursday morning.
Six months after his son pleaded not guilty to murder charges, Robert Crimo Jr. had his arraignment in the Lake County Courthouse.
During the roughly six minute hearing, Judge George Strickland read charges that accuse Crimo Jr. of reckless conduct by sponsoring a FOID card in late 2019 for his then-19-year-old son while prosecutors said Crimo Jr. was aware his son had expressed violent ideations.
Crimo Jr. faces one class four felony count for each of the seven people killed in the parade shooting. That’s punishable by up to three years in prison.
In a brief statement released by his office Wednesday, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the grand jury agreed the case against the father should move forward.
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons," Rinehart said.
George M. Gomez, Crimo Jr.’s Chicago-area attorney, has previously called the accusations against his client “baseless and unprecedented.”
The next hearing is set for April 4.
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