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Hoffman Estates man gets 8 years for 2010 carjacking, burglary

Alexander Hoegner spent his 21st birthday last week behind bars at the Cook County Jail, awaiting his trial on carjacking and burglary charges.

His guilty plea to those charges Wednesday afternoon in Rolling Meadows ensured the Hoffman Estates man will celebrate future birthdays in prison after Cook County Circuit Court Judge Hyman Riebman sentenced him to eight years for carjacking a Hoffman Estates woman and breaking into an electronics store in the early morning hours of July 20, 2010.

Hoegner’s co-defendant John Egelston, 22, of Schaumburg, faces the same charges. He next appears in court March 30.

Hoegner was one of two men who approached a woman as she got out of her 1999 Nissan Altima in the parking lot of a Hoffman Estates apartment complex, said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Shilpa Patel. One of the defendants pulled the woman’s ponytail and forced her to the ground while holding a knife to her stomach, while the other man ordered her to turn over her car keys and cell phone, Patel said.

After the men drove off, the victim called police, giving them a description of the car and the license plate number, which prompted Hoffman Estates police to issue a bulletin, Patel said. Soon after, Streamwood police encountered the vehicle, in which Hoegner was a passenger, and pursued it. A chase ensured, concluding with a crash, after which the passengers fled on foot and were caught by police, Patel said.

Police recovered a knife from the car, which the victim identified as the knife one of the defendants used during the carjacking, Patel said. Shortly before the carjacking, videotape surveillance at a Hoffman Estates electronics store showed two individuals — wearing distinctive clothes — smashing the glass door and removing items, Patel said. The clothes matched those worn by the defendants. Additionally, the police recovered the stolen merchandise from the carjacked vehicle, Patel said.

During sentencing, Riebman cited both Hoegner’s youth and criminal background — which prosecutors say includes a 2008 conviction for residential burglary and a 2007 conviction for attempted residential burglary — saying before he turned 21, the defendant “had managed to terrorize and endanger lives of community members.”

“I don’t take any pleasure in sentencing anyone to the penitentiary,” Riebman said. “I hope you’ll go on to become a member of society who’s gainfully employed and not a danger to the community.”

Hoegner received credit for 218 days in custody. He must complete 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

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