Police, St. Charles students fight underage drinking

Students from St. Charles North and East high schools have a joint approach to discourage underage drinking.

Pupils from both schools will team up with St. Charles police Friday to visit 71 businesses that have liquor licenses to post “Project Sticker Shock” materials, which include window decals, posters, and proof of age signs.

The minimum fine for selling alcohol to minors is $500, along with a top jail term of up to a year.

The project is funded and sponsored by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. The materials will be posted statewide in order to promote “Alcohol Awareness Month” during April.

Sentence upheldAn appellate court panel has upheld a 10-year sentence for an October 2004 bowling alley heist in Carpentersville.Terry L, Heinz, 50, of Woodstock, was convicted of burglary and theft and sentenced to 10 years and five years for those crimes to be served concurrently.He also was ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution to the Liberty Lanes, 115 Meadowdale Drive, for destroying a safe, stealing at least 18 cartons of cigarettes along with $2,850 cash.Heinz appealed his sentence, saying it violated the one-act, one-crime doctrine. The panel disagreed.#147;Burglary requires a knowingly unlawful entry into a building with the intent to commit a theft therein; it does not require a #145;taking#146; of property with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property as does theft,#148; the appellate panel wrote.The court did order a new hearing be set to determine restitution to be paid by Heinz because the actual damages were not documented properly when introduced as evidence in trial court.The appellate panel also trimmed three days off Heinz#146; sentence because he was arrested Oct. 27, 2006 and released on bond Oct. 29. #147;When a defendant is in custody for any portion of a day, he is entitled to credit for that day toward his sentence,#148; the panel wrote.10 years for child beatingA 23-year-old Aurora man recently was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to beating a 6-year-old girl in October 2009.Randy Freeman, of the 500 block of Ashland Avenue, pleaded guilty to kicking and punching the girl. Because of his criminal history #8212; which included convictions of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery to a pregnant person in 2004 and 2007, respectively #8212; the sentence for assaulting the girl was increased.He also must serve 85 percent of his sentence.hhitzeman@dailyherald.com