Man who shot at ‘Batman’ car driver near McHenry guilty of attempted murder

A McHenry County judge agreed with prosecutors Monday in ruling a convicted felon intended to kill a McHenry man when he shot at his “Batman” car three times. Juan Colon was not trying to de-escalate a situation, as he had claimed, the judge said.

Colon, 29, of Waukegan, had his case heard in a bench trial last week before Judge Mark Gerhardt, forgoing a trial by jury. In announcing his verdict Monday, Gerhardt found Colon guilty of two counts of attempted murder, which are Class X felonies, along with three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In closing arguments last week, Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Marek said Colon was a felon in possession of a firearm the afternoon of Sunday, April 24, 2022, when he shot at and tried to kill the driver of the black Ford covered in Batman decals.

The incident started moments prior when a Lincoln SUV in which Colon was a passenger drove into the oncoming traffic lane on River Road and passed the Ford. As it passed, a Pellegrino water bottle was thrown from the SUV at the Ford.

It is unclear if Colon or the driver of the SUV, Joseph Crisara II, 37, of Island Lake, threw the bottle, but Marek asserted it didn’t matter. The prosecutor said it was thrown to “mess with the old man driving in a Batman car.”

Crisara was initially charged in connection with the incident. However, he later pleaded guilty to drug charges that resulted as part of the investigation into the shooting.

After the bottle was thrown, the SUV turned off River Road and onto Black Partridge Road near McHenry. The driver of the “Batman” car followed behind and both vehicles stopped.

Video from a dash camera inside the Ford, played at trial, shows Crisara and Colon exiting the SUV and Crisara yelling at the driver of the Ford. Colon is seen walking quickly toward the driver’s side of the Ford with a pistol at his side, slightly hidden behind his right leg, left hand in his pocket.

Though out of the camera’s range, one gunshot is heard, captured by a nearby home’s security camera. Colon is then seen running from the victim’s car back toward the SUV, wiping his face and hitting the back corner of the SUV. He appears to shoot two more shots behind him, in the direction of the Ford.

In announcing his guilty ruling Monday, Gerhardt said there is no evidence the driver of the Ford was an aggressor and he never got out of his car. Colon “was in no evident danger of harm,” Gerhardt said. Rather, it was Colon who “initiated” the confrontation, standing just one to two feet from the driver when he shot his gun, the judge said. The shooting was an intentional act and not a reflex to being maced as Colon had claimed, Gerhardt said.

The judge also noted how quickly Colon exited the SUV and by his own admission, took the safety lock off the gun before exiting. Gerhardt referred to Colon’s testimony when Colon said, “What good is a gun without taking the safety lock off?”

Colon “was the aggressor engaging [with the victim] when there was no need to,” Gerhardt said.

The video shows Crisara hastily getting back into the driver’s side of the SUV as Colon struggles, loses a flip flop then manages to get back into the passenger side. The SUV quickly takes off, the video shows.

Marek described the shooting as “completely random,” taking place on a residential street, with families outside in their yards, on a Sunday afternoon.

Despite Colon testifying last week that he wanted to “de-escalate a situation,” Marek said in closings: “No one takes a loaded gun to calm things down. If he wanted to calm things down he would have told Crisara to stop yelling and get back in the SUV.”

Colon also could have called 911, or Crisara could have continued driving to the police station. The SUV did not have to stop that day, Marek said. Marek further argued that when the gun was initially fired, Colon was close to the driver and intentionally shot at him out of anger for being pepper sprayed, not as an involuntary reaction to being sprayed, as the defense asserted.

“At that point, he has every intention to kill [the man],” Marek said.

Colon’s defense attorney, Kyle Kunz, denied in closings that Colon’s intent was to kill and reiterated that he was trying to de-escalate the situation. Kunz noted the “Batman” vehicle followed the SUV after the bottle was thrown and that Cisara and the man were yelling at each other.

Kunz referred to Colon’s testimony last week when he said he shot the additional two rounds as he ran back to the SUV be said had Colon intended to kill the man that day he would have continued shooting at him while standing at his window.

Gerhardt said Monday that Colon’s version of the story “was pure fiction.”

Sentencing is set for July 9.