Tattoo saves McHenry County man from robbery conviction

Tattooed along with a large cross on the right arm of Joseph Tyrcha is "Psalm 35," a reference to the Biblical verse seeking deliverance from the unjust persecution of one's enemies.

It probably wasn't the result of divine intervention, but the tattoo did deliver in a McHenry County courtroom Tuesday when a judge found Tyrcha not guilty of a robbery charge that alleged he assaulted a 62-year-old man and stole his cellular telephone during a fracas on the Fox River last year.

Judge Joseph Condon ruled there was reasonable doubt of the victim's identification of Tyrcha as his assailant, mainly because the Johnsburg man did not recall seeing the plainly visible tattoo on the accused's upper right arm.

"The tattoo is hard to miss," Condon said at the conclusion of a one-day trial.

Tyrcha, 47, of the 4500 block of Riverdale Drive near Pistakee Highlands, declined to comment after the verdict.

He was charged after Michael McEvoy identified him as the man he scuffled with June 28, 2008, on the river near its entrance to Pistakee Lake. McEvoy emphatically confirmed that identification on the witness stand Tuesday, pointing to Tyrcha and saying he was "absolutely" sure he was the attacker.

"I'll never forget that face," he said.

The alleged altercation occurred after McEvoy, believing Tyrcha was unlawfully dumping soil along his property's shoreline, drove his boat in front of the home and began taking photos. McEvoy testified he was driving away about 15 minutes later when a man he identified as Tyrcha pulled up on a personal watercraft, threw an arm around his neck and began dragging him toward the water.

McEvoy said he managed to fight off the assailant, but not before the man stole his iPhone then threatened to kill him if the photos led authorities to halt work on the property.

Tyrcha testified that the allegations were a case of mistaken identity, telling Condon he never left his property that day and didn't even own a personal watercraft.

McEvoy's photos did land Tyrcha in hot water with the county's planning department, which in June issued him six citations for altering his land without a permit. The citations, Tyrcha said, are the result of rocks and fallen trees he kept on the property that have since been removed.