Prints on potato chips clinch robbery conviction

Prosecution witnesses talked a lot about bloody footprints and Nike gym shoes they say linked defendant Samuel Span to the April 2006 attack at an Elgin convenience store that left clerk Valmik Gandhi, 49, with a fractured skull and an injured brain.

But that's not what convinced Associate Judge John J. Scotillo to find the 24-year-old guilty of attempted armed robbery and aggravated battery, a conviction that could earn Span up to 30 years in prison.

"Sometimes the smallest things mean the most," said Scotillo before pronouncing Span guilty on eight of nine counts in a two-day bench trial that concluded Wednesday in Rolling Meadows.

The "small thing" Scotillo referred to was an unopened bag of potato chips bearing Span's fingerprints. But other evidence contributed to the verdict, namely the testimony of Sgt. Dan O'Shea, of the Elgin Police Department, who recognized Span from the store's surveillance videotape, which showed the defendant repeatedly striking Gandhi on the back of his head with a blunt instrument prosecutors claimed was a wrench.

Span, who was on parole when he attacked Gandhi, has a criminal history that includes convictions for armed robbery with a firearm in 2002 and aggravated discharge of a firearm following a revenge shooting outside an Elgin restaurant in 2004. He did not testify at the trial.

Typically, such a conviction would translate to four to 15 years in prison. But citing Span's "extensive criminal background" and "in light of the serious injuries sustained by the victim," Assistant State's Attorney Karen Crothers said the state will seek considerable prison time.

Sentencing was set for July 24.