Man who stole BMW, led Elgin police on chase gets jail, probation
A McHenry man pleaded guilty this week to stealing a BMW from a driveway in Elgin and leading police on a drunken chase, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and two years probation.
Anthony D. Cohn, 37, of the 3700 block of Grand Avenue, was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle, three counts of aggravated driving under the influence, driving while license suspended, and leaving the scene of an accident after the Feb. 5 incident in Elgin, according to Kane County court records.
Under a plea agreement accepted Wednesday by Judge D.J. Tegeler, Cohn was sentenced to jail, probation, ordered to attend a victim impact panel, undergo alcohol treatment and pay $1,520 in court fines, records show.
Cohn can have his jail sentence cut in half for good behavior, meaning he will have to serve 90 days. He's been held at the Kane County jail for 77 days since his arrest.
According to an Elgin police report, Cohn was accused of entering a silver BMW-XI on the 200 block of South Weston Avenue on the city's southwest side, starting it with a key fob, and striking a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse while driving away.
Police responded as Cohn reached speeds up to 60 mph on a 30 mph-zone on State Street before crashing into a snowbank on Standish and Jewett streets, according to an Elgin police report.
Police followed snowy footprints and found Cohn hiding under a back porch at a house on Walnut Street and he surrendered, according to the report.
Cohn was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery in connection with a May 29, 2014 attack in an area known as "tent city" behind a Jewel-Osco in Woodstock.
Cohn, who was homeless at the time, was accused of dousing a homeless woman with lighter fluid and setting her on fire after she refused to have sex with him.
McHenry County prosecutors dismissed the attempted murder charge before an October 2015 trial in which he was found not guilty of aggravated battery. He later released from jail after being held for more than a year while awaiting trial.
In the Elgin case, Cohn can be resentenced to up to seven years in prison if he violates his probation.