Man who trashed sheriff's impound sent to prison

[Szura_Michael_mg2007]

A man who expressed his anger over authorities seizing his vehicle by trashing a dozen other cars at a police impound lot now has another reason to be unhappy: a three-year prison term.

Michael A. Szura, 32, of Crystal Lake, received that sentence Thursday as part of a plea bargain to a burglary charge stemming from his break-in of the McHenry County sheriff's impound lot.

Sheriff's police say they caught Szura red-handed in the early hours of June 6 as he fled from the rural Woodstock lot through a hole cut in its fence.

When deputies searched inside the lot, they found that 11 vehicles' windows had been smashed and a 12th vehicle had been set on fire.

The break-in occurred just days after a sheriff's deputy seized Szura's pickup truck during a traffic stop in which police badges, handcuffs and a Cook County sheriff's uniform had been found in the vehicle.

His attorney said Thursday those items belonged to a friend who works in law enforcement.

"He was indignant that his vehicle was seized on a minor traffic violation," defense lawyer Philip Prossnitz said. "He should have gone to a lawyer, not into self-help mode."

Prossnitz blamed Szura's actions on a "near-lethal" combination of alcohol and prescriptions drugs he ingested before heading to the impound lot.

"The drugs obviously disrupted any logical thinking," he said.

Szura's wife, Stephanie Szura, 29, still faces a burglary charge alleging she drove her husband to the lot knowing he intended to break into it. She also faces a pair of misdemeanor child endangerment charges alleging she left the couple's children, ages 8 and 10, home alone to do it.