Bond set for Elgin man who threatened judge

Bail was set at $525,000 Saturday morning for an Elgin man accused of threatening a Judge Friday.

Alex S. Barrera, 23, of the 400 block of Columbia Avenue in Elgin, appeared before a judge Saturday at the Kane County Judicial Center.

The bail is the total for all charges Barrera faces and he will need $52,500 to be released on bond.

Threatening a public official is a Class 3 felony. If convicted, Barrera could face two to five years in prison.

On Friday, Barrera had appeared via closed-circuit TV in bond court on a felony theft charge. He talked over and yelled at Judge Bruce Lester, frequently proclaimed his innocence and discarded a shirt that the jailer gave him to wear. When Lester was about to review Barrera's criminal record, Barrera told him his record didn't matter and that he hadn't done anything wrong. When the judge disagreed, Barrera swore at Lester and threatened to "pop" him, gesturing as if he had a gun.