Man gets 14 years after gun goes off during police chase

A Villa Park man was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison for discharging his gun during a police chase.

Genaro Villanueva was acquitted last month of trying to kill the officer, but a jury did find him guilty of the lesser weapons charge.

The pursuit began after police responded to a resident's complaint of possible gang activity at 9:45 p.m. Oct. 27, 2006, in the area of 528 W. Division St. in Villa Park.

Upon investigation, two officers encountered five men. One of them took off running. Officer James Krupiczowicz chased after him.

Prosecutors Steven Knight and Joseph Ruggiero said the officer heard a gunshot as he pursued the suspect. They said the officer ran through the smoke and smelled gunpowder. He did not see a weapon or a gunfire flash.

Krupiczowicz was not injured. The suspect was not immediately apprehended.

Police from Addison, Elmhurst, Lombard, Warrenville and the sheriff's office with canines assisted in the search for evidence.

Authorities said they found a bullet near a doorway days later. The gun, though, was never found. After his arrest, Villanueva admitted fleeing police because he was armed and had an outstanding arrest warrant for misdemeanor battery.

He did not testify during his trial. But his attorney, David Sotomayor, said Villanueva never shot at the officer. He said the gun accidentally discharged as a fleeing Villanueva tossed it into some bushes.

DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell, who had presided over the earlier jury trial, sentenced Villanueva. He did not have a previous violent criminal history.