Charges dropped against former Gail Borden library trustee
Randall Hopp is out of office and now he's out of trouble.
Kane County prosecutors dismissed felony aggravated battery charges against the former Gail Borden Public Library trustee.
Hopp, 61, of the 1500 block of Pamela Court, Elgin, was charged with hitting his elderly father in March 2011 and was in an institution last summer after he was found unfit for trial.
Hopp's father passed away in late 2012 and his mother, the only other witness, recanted her testimony during a videotaped evidence deposition April 23.
“At the time of the (March 2011) incident, (she) only provided a verbal statement of the incident. Due to lack of substantive evidence to prove the case, the state moves to (dismiss) the matter,” according to a motion approved this week by Associate Judge Thomas Stanfa.
A woman who answered the phone at the home Hopp shares with his mother had no comment.
During his four-year term on the library board, Hopp was banned from the library during regular hours for aggressive behavior toward staff members.
He lost his re-election bid in April, finishing last in a field of four with 2,075 votes. All three winners ahead of him each garnered more than 5,100 votes.
Hopp was initially charged with a misdemeanor, but prosecutors upgraded the charge to felony aggravated battery of a person older than 60.
If convicted, Hopp could have faced anywhere from probation to five years in prison.