Embattled Elgin library trustee released from mental hospital
Randy Hopp, a Gail Borden Public Library trustee who is banned from the Elgin library for aggressive behavior, has been ruled fit to stand trial on felony charges that he attacked his elderly parents.
Hopp was ruled fit to stand trial on Wednesday by Judge Marmarie Kostelny after attorneys agreed with an evaluation done by a forensic psychologist at the Chester Mental Health Center, according to court records.
Hopp was sent there after a jury ruled in late June that the 61-year-old Elgin man was unfit to stand trial because he had a persecution complex and wouldn’t cooperate with the assistant public defender who was representing him.
Hopp, of the 1500 block of Pamela Court, is due in court again on Oct. 24 and faces up to five years in prison if convicted, although probation is an option.
A phone message left for Hopp was not returned; Assistant Public Defender Eun Yoon did not return a call seeking comment and has declined to speak about the case outside of court.
Hopp, whose 4-year term as library trustee expires next spring, initially was arrested in March 2011 on misdemeanor charges, but prosecutors later upgraded them to felony charges in late 2011 because the victims in the case were older than 60.
Hopp currently is banned from the Gail Borden and other area libraries after officials said he exhibited aggressive behavior toward the library staff. He has only been allowed to attend board meetings there.