Fitness evaluation ordered for man charged in McHenry shootings

A McHenry County judge ordered Friday that a Lake Villa man accused of firing a gun at McHenry homes and vehicles last month undergo a fitness evaluation, court records show.

Nicholas C. Lopardo, 25, was charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, as well as aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied building, possession of a stolen vehicle and stolen firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the criminal complaint.

Citing his current charges and past convictions, including charges of domestic and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Assistant State’s Attorney Hunter Jones said in the petition that Lopardo “poses a real and present threat to the physical safety of any person ... and that no combination of conditions of bail can reasonably assure the physical safety of any other person or persons.”

He then was traveling northbound on Barreville Road when he allegedly shot at and struck three occupied vehicles, one being driven by a mail carrier, another being a McHenry Police vehicle and a McHenry County Sheriff’s Office vehicle.

—   Motion stating why Lopardo be held without bond

In the petition, Jones outlined the early morning hours of March 31, beginning at a house party in the 3000 block of West Charlotte Avenue in McHenry where Lopardo was observed as “drinking heavily” while in the possession of a .357-caliber handgun.

“After making a sexual advance upon a female, which was rejected, [Lopardo] walked outside to the front yard area of the residence and fired multiple rounds in the yard before leaving the scene in a black Jaguar sedan,” according to the petition.

The morning unfolded with a short police chase, Lopardo abandoning his Jaguar and allegedly stealing Chevrolet Tahoe, which he is accused of using to ram a gate on McHenry County Conservation District property. Once inside the gate, he allegedly left the Tahoe and entered a building where he allegedly fired at least 10 gunshots, according to the petition.

He then was traveling northbound on Barreville Road when he allegedly shot at and struck three occupied vehicles, one driven by a mail carrier, another a McHenry police vehicle and the third a McHenry County Sheriff’s Office vehicle.

Residents in a nearby neighborhood called in reports of gunfire and a man “walking around the neighborhood and attempting to gain access to homes. One video depicts [Lopardo] raising a gun and firing,” according to the petition.

Another call came in from a resident in the 1700 block of Cashel Lane who said someone was “in her basement where her husband stored multiple firearms and firearm ammunition.”

An attempt Friday to reach Lopardo’s attorney Robert Ritacca was not immediately successful.

Lopardo is due back in court May 11.