Elgin man faces new charge for threatening judge

If Alex Barrera had only kept his mouth shut, he might be getting out of jail much sooner.

But because he threatened to kill the judge overseeing his bond hearing this morning, he could add two to five years to his stay with the state.

Barrera, 23, of the 400 block of Columbia Avenue in Elgin, was charged this morning with threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony that carries a sentence of two to five years in prison.

Barrera originally appeared before Kane County Judge Bruce Lester on a felony theft charge.

According to police, Barrera wrested a woman's mobile phone away from her on Wednesday and used it to make threatening and intimidating calls to her family and friends.

The woman called police, who arrested Barrera the next day.

That charge could earn him a one- to four-year sentence.

Barrera was belligerent from the start of the hearing, as he talked over and yelled at the judge, frequently proclaimed his innocence and discarded a shirt that the jailer gave him to wear.

Lester was about to review Barrera's criminal record with him over the closed-circuit television set, when Barrera jumped in and said his record didn't matter and that he hadn't done anything wrong.

When Lester said his record and behavior counted when it came to setting his bond, Barrera swore at the judge and threatened to "pop" him, while gesturing with his right hand as if he had a gun.

Barrera said he would do so at his next court date with his attorney watching. There was no attorney present at his bond hearing.

He threw a few more profanities the judge's way before the jailer escorted Barrera away from the camera.

The judge subsequently turned the television off.

Barrera was being held at the Elgin jail on the new charge and is due to be transported Saturday morning to St. Charles for a bond hearing on that case. Another judge will set his bond in that matter.