Out on bond, teen charged in new case

Two weeks after a Cook County judge changed Kevin Schuh's 24-hour curfew to allow him to take a construction job to help pay for his legal defense, prosecutors say the Mount Prospect teenager violated his bond when he left his house and broke into a car during the early morning hours of May 15.

Schuh, of the 1700 block of Kensington, has been charged with reckless homicide and aggravated drunken driving in the December hit-and-run death of 15-year-old Hersey High School student Monika Skrzypkowski.

In December, a judge ordered Schuh confined to his home as a condition of his $500,000 bond. On April 30, Judge John Scotillo granted defense attorney Barry Sheppard's motion to modify the curfew to allow the 18-year-old to take a job as a laborer on a construction project. In his ruling, Scotillo ordered Schuh to return home immediately after work.

Schuh failed to comply, say prosecutors. At Wednesday's hearing in a hushed, crowded Rolling Meadows courtroom, Assistant State's Attorney Karen Crothers informed Scotillo that Mount Prospect police had charged Schuh with the misdemeanor offense of criminal trespass to a vehicle after they say he and another person broke into a car parked in the 1400 block of Barberry Lane in Mount Prospect.

"We believe he's a danger to the community," said Crothers, adding that the new charge indicates Schuh cannot conform to his bond's requirements.

Before the hearing, Sheppard said his client has been "totally cooperative and forthcoming in all respects" in his dealings with the police.

Citing his client's slight stature and Cook County Jail's rough reputation, Sheppard asked for a reasonable bond.

Finding that Schuh had violated his bond, Scotillo set a new bond of $750,000, which elicited gasps from Schuh's family.

In announcing his finding, the judge invoked an adage.

"I'm sure your mother told you, like my mother told me, nothing good happens after midnight," he said.