Rock Falls shooting victim, a longtime felon, charged with home invasion

ROCK FALLS – A Sterling man who was shot multiple times Aug. 9 in Rock Falls was arrested Thursday and charged with home invasion and criminal trespass, Police Chief Dave Pilgrim said in a news release.

Silas C. Hammelman, 30, turned himself in a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to the release.

Hammelman, who has a drug-related criminal history, was shot an unspecified number of times in a home in the 900 block of West Fifth Street about 10:15 that morning.

When officers arrived, they found the injured Hammelman, who was taken to CGH Medical Center in Sterling then to a Rockford hospital.

An unidentified man who was at the scene was questioned and released, according to the release.

Home invasion is punishable by at least six to 30 years in prison; if the invader uses a gun or other weapon, or injures someone in the home, that sentence could be extended 15 to 25 years, to life.

Felony trespass carries a sentence of one to four years.

Hammelman, who is on probation in a domestic battery case, posted $10,000 of his $100,000 bond and is free pending further court hearings.

He was sentenced April 19 in Whiteside County Court to two and a half years’ probation for the battery and for criminal trespass to a residence in another 2021 case. The terms are being served concurrently, per his plea agreement.

He was sentenced on March 24, 2015, to five years for dealing cocaine, and to two years for possession of a controlled substance, with those terms ordered to be served consecutively.

On July 24, 2013, he was sentenced to to two and a half years’ probation for dealing marijuana in a 2012 and a 2013 case.

His probation was revoked when he was convicted in the subsequent cases, and he was resentenced to two years in prison in each case, with those terms to run concurrently.