Wheaton man gets jail time for firing rifle from window
A Wheaton man says he regrets drunkenly firing a .22 caliber rifle from his apartment twice this spring, narrowly missing two neighbors watching TV and a family of five driving by.
“I thank God every day that no one was hurt,” said John Exiner, 35, who was given six months in jail and 30 months of probation by DuPage County Judge Robert Kleeman on Thursday.
Wheaton police arrested Exiner and took his 10-year-old daughter into protective custody in April. It was the second time he got drunk and began randomly firing, prosecutors said.
The first time was March 28, when a man driving near Evergreen Street and Wheaton Avenue said a bullet struck the rear bumper of his van, also carrying his wife and three children.
Police canvassed the area the following day before finding two witnesses who said they heard loud noises or saw suspicious activity at Exiner’s second-floor apartment on the 400 block of South Wheaton. An instrument used to show trajectory in a shooting reconstruction also pointed in that direction.
When officers confronted Exiner, he admitted he was drunk and “shooting at squirrels” but denied aiming at people, Detective Patricia Potter testified Thursday. She said police then recovered 10 spent shell casings from his apartment, a few blocks south of downtown Wheaton, and Exiner confessed he hadn’t been shooting at squirrels.
Potter said Exiner surrendered a .22 caliber rifle at that time and agreed to turn himself in on April 15. But before that date could arrive, police were called back to his neighborhood for a second shooting on April 13.
Potter said a woman and her teen daughter who lived near Exiner told police they were watching TV when suddenly they heard a loud noise and then found three bullet holes in a bedroom. She said a single bullet had pierced an outer wall and closet door before becoming lodged in an interior wall.
Officers again confronted Exiner, who appeared highly intoxicated, Potter testified.
“He said, ‘I was just shooting up in the air. I just like shooting guns,’” the detective testified.
Potter said Exiner told officers he bought a second .22 caliber rifle at a sporting-goods store after surrendering the first gun.
Police took his 10-year-old daughter into protective custody after she reported seeing him leave about the time of the shooting, telling her a long leather case he was carrying contained golf clubs.
Exiner faced up to three years in prison after pleading guilty in July to reckless discharge of a firearm with no sentencing agreement.
In arguing for probation Thursday, defense attorney Patrick Weiland said his client “went off the rails when he lost a high-paying job” but has since sobered up. He noted Exiner offered written apologies to the victims, sought and completed alcohol-abuse treatment on his own, and has been a “good provider” for his family.
“I’m sure nobody is more ashamed of what happened than Mr. Exiner,” Weiland said.
But Assistant State’s Attorney Jim Scaliatine argued for prison, portraying Exiner as a loose cannon who gets “his enjoyment from drinking scotch and shooting guns in residential Wheaton.”
“It’s imperative we keep the people of Wheaton safe, your honor,” he told Kleeman.
Kleeman said his initial reaction was that Exiner deserved “the harshest of sentences.” But with 110 days already served in the county jail, and the likelihood of an early prison release, probation and additional conditions would be a better fit, he said.
“My concern is if there’s a relapse,” Kleeman said. “What I don’t want is for the defendant to be idle.”
Kleeman sentenced Exiner to 180 days in jail and 30 months of probation. Exiner also must wear a device that alerts authorities if he consumes any alcohol; undergo random drug and alcohol tests; avoid possessing firearms and alcohol; and work or attempt to work at least 30 hours a week, the judge ruled.
Exiner, whose Firearm Owner’s Identification card has been revoked, had no prior record of violence.
“I am extremely and sincerely humbled by this experience,” he told the court, “and I regret my actions more than I can ever express.”