Man gets 65 years for attempted murder of Lombard cops
Paul J. Grygo was sentenced Wednesday to 65 years in prison for opening fire on three Lombard police officers, permanently injuring one, to avoid being arrested for stealing an $8 bottle of vodka.
In a show of solidarity, dozens of uniformed police officers filled DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell's courtroom gallery as she imposed the sentence.
Grygo, 59, declined the judge's offer to make a public comment before the sentencing and showed no outward reaction afterward.
During the trial, the defense team argued Grygo's years of chronic alcoholism left him in such a diminished mental state that he could not distinguish between right and wrong Sept. 2, 2004, when he opened fire on the officers.
A jury deliberated for more than three hours May 9 before it rejected the insanity defense and instead convicted Grygo of the attempted murder of two police officers and aggravated battery with a firearm.
The injured police officer, Jerry O'Meara, who dreamed of being a cop since he was a boy, said he was pleased with the sentence and overwhelmed by his former department's support.
"It means a great deal to me to have them here," O'Meara said. "It shows the community does care what happens in this kind of a case because, obviously, if someone is going to shoot a police officer, they're not going to think twice about shooting someone else on the street. The most important thing to me was to make sure he never gets the opportunity to do this to someone else."
O'Meara survived a gunshot wound but lost his 13-year police career due to permanent nerve and muscle damage to his left arm. O'Meara said he lives with chronic pain and can't even play ball with his two children because he only has 40 to 50 percent use of his arm. He said there is not a day that passes in which he doesn't replay the shooting in his head.
The violence unfolded when police tracked Grygo to his condo at 2201 S. Grace St. in Lombard after a Jewel store manager copied the license plate number of a suspect who fled with a plastic bottle of vodka. Three Lombard police officers responded to what seemed a routine call.
It was Lt. Jim Glennon who first saw the weapon and screamed, "Gun!" He and O'Meara took off in one direction down the long, narrow hallway. The third officer, Joseph Statkus, who was on the other side of Grygo's door, opposite his colleagues, retreated to a nearby condo, positioned himself behind a partially opened door and returned fire.
Grygo shot five bullets from his .38-caliber revolver, then went into his bedroom to reload. He again displayed the weapon but dropped it without shooting as Statkus fired back. Grygo, uninjured, surrendered minutes later. He has remained in jail since his arrest.
Grygo did not testify during his trial. Experts offered differing opinions on the issue of insanity. The prosecution team of Tim Diamond and Michael Pawl said Grygo was nothing more than an angry drunk with no history of mental illness who simply did not want to be arrested.
But defense lawyers Paul DeLuca and Paul Moreschi argued Grygo suffered from alcohol-induced persistent dementia that made it impossible for him to understand the criminality of his conduct. An appeal is being pursued.
Grygo had a 30-year history of abusing alcohol, often binge-drinking for days. His disease was so bad, Grygo hadn't held a steady job for a decade, lived alone in squalor and suffered hallucinations, alcohol withdrawal and hospitalizations.
O'Meara, an Army veteran, is working in security at the DuPage County courthouse. He and his two colleagues received their town's award of valor for their courage.
Fifteen police officers have been killed in the line of duty in DuPage County since 1918.