No charges for Kane County deputies involved in fatal shooting of Aurora man, K-9 in 2023

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced Thursday that her office will not be filing criminal charges against deputies involved in the fatal shooting of an Aurora carjacker and K-9 Hudson in 2023.

The four deputies with the Kane County Sheriff’s department were investigated for their role in a car chase on Randall Road that ended in the fatal shooting of Aurora resident James Moriarty on May 24, 2023.

Mosser found all officers involved in the shooting justified in their actions and said they will not face any charges from the State’s Attorney’s Office

“It was Moriarty’s choice and his choice alone that ultimately led to his death,” Mosser said.

Mosser, joined by Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain, detailed the results of her investigation and the reasoning behind her decision at a press conference the afternoon of Friday, April 11, at theSheriff’s Office training room at 37W755 Route 38 in St. Charles.

On May 24, 2023, Moriarty was wanted for an aggravated and armed hijacking at an Aurora Jiffy Lube earlier that day, and had several other warrants for his arrest. A Sheriff’s Deputy located Moriarty in South Elgin just after 3 p.m. and a chase ensued.

The pursuit began near Randall Road and Gyorr Avenue and ended at the intersection of Randall Road and Fabyan Parkway, near the border of Batavia and Geneva, lasting about 12 minutes and 30 seconds in total.

Mosser shared video from the squad cars and the body-worn cameras of four Kane County Sheriff’s officers involved in the pursuit: deputies Eric Gustafson and Alan Garcia, Sergeant Michael Widlarz and Deputy Luke Weston, who was with K-9 Hudson.

The video included the chase and shooting that ensued, leading to the deaths of Moriarty and Hudson, from each of the involved officers’ cameras, as well as video from a civilian’s Tesla that was stopped near the scene.

During the shooting, officers fired a total of 18 rounds. Garcia fired his handgun once, Weston fired his rifle four times and Widlarz fired 13 rounds from his handgun in a span of seven seconds.

Moriarty was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Mosser said the autopsy found 17 gunshot wounds and a toxicology report showed the presence of cocaine.

While Mosser said each officer was cleared of any wrongdoing in their use of deadly force, Widlarz was found to have violated the Illinois Body-Worn Camera Act in two ways, along with three violations of Sheriff’s Office policy.

While Widlarz had a working body-worn camera and squad car camera, he muted both of the devices’ audio recording functions at the start of the pursuit. His body-worn camera was also affixed to his shoulder, which angled it towards the sky, preventing it from capturing the incident.

Mosser noted that Widlarz refused to explain his reasoning for muting his audio during the investigation, which Hain said was at the direction of his attorney.

Mosser said while there is no question that Widlarz violated the statue, there was no evidence that he did so with the intention of obstructing justice, so she would not be pursuing criminal charges.

While department policy requires cameras be affixed to officers’ chests, Hain defended Widlarz’s policy violation, saying it was necessary because of his short stature.

“[Widlarz] is a dedicated employee that is well-respected in the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and I stand completely behind him,” Hain said.

Widlarz has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 22 years and is still actively policing.

Hain commended the officers involved, including Hudson, for “the upstanding and brave work they had to do that day.”

“The relentless pursuit of this individual is a prime example of the excellent job done each and everyday by our professional, well-trained and well-equipped personnel,” Hain said. “We have to remember that all of our sworn personnel are human beings too.”

Hain added said some of his command staff disagrees with Mosser’s findings, but they are grateful for the exoneration of all of their officers’ wrongdoing.