Carpentersville man whose actions led to school lockdowns in Algonquin pleads guilty to resisting officer

A Carpentersville man was sentenced to two years of conditional discharge stemming from charges of intimidation, trespassing and resisting a police officer after authorities said he fled on foot through an Algonquin neighborhood.

Rafael R. Herrera, 32, of Carpentersville entered a guilty plea Monday before Judge Tiffany Davis to one count of resisting a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor. In exchange for the plea, felony charges of trespassing a residence, residential burglary and harassing a witness were dropped.

Along with conditional discharge, Herrera is ordered to not have any contact with the victim, according to court documents.

In 2023, Herrera entered an Algonquin home and “picked the lock to the victim’s bedroom door” to “convince the victim to not press charges against him for a recent domestic battery,” according to the original criminal complaint against him filed by McHenry County court.

Herrera also pleaded guilty to one count of domestic battery in a separate case Monday. He will also serve two years of conditional discharge concurrently, or at the same time, with the resisting a police officer charge.

The trespassing incident occurred a few blocks from Algonquin Middle and Eastview elementary schools in Community School District 300. Both schools were put in a soft lockdown for about an hour, Algonquin Police Sgt. Jason Burzynski said.

When police arrived at the home at 9:38 a.m. May 9, 2023, Herrera fled out a rear door, hopped multiple fences, and led police on a foot chase, Burzynski said.

The Kane County Sheriff’s Office, including a K-9 unit and a drone operator, as well as Carpentersville, McHenry County Conservation District and Kane County Forest Preserve police aided in the search, he said.

The man was found and arrested about 10:08 a.m. in a wooded area near the Prairie Path bike trail, Burzynski said.