DuPage County top crime stories of 2016

A look back at some of the crime and justice stories that grabbed headlines in 2016 ...

January

<h3 class="leadin">Murder-suicide:

A 55-year-old man, Daniel Kudrna, shoots his estranged wife, Catherine Lee Kudrna, 54, and then himself inside their Bloomingdale home. Police say the couple was divorcing and Catherine had moved out, but returned home for belongings when the shootings took place.

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Aurora's first woman chief:

A veteran Aurora police commander, Kristen Ziman, becomes the first female police chief in the city's history. Born and raised in Aurora, she started with the department in 1991 as a police cadet and steadily rose through the ranks. She succeeds Greg Thomas, who retired in November 2015.

<h3 class="leadin">Fake website:

Wheaton police investigate a fake website promoting violence and radicalism that's designed to look like it belongs to the Islamic Center of Wheaton. The center issues a statement saying the fake website is “full of hatred and lies” and city officials rally around the group.

<h3 class="leadin">Naperville native detained:

A sailor with roots in Naperville, Lt. David Nartker, is one of 10 Americans taken captive in January and then released in Iran. U.S. officials say the crews of Nartker's small boat and one other accidentally strayed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf and were captured and detained overnight by Iranian forces. No one is injured.

<h3 class="leadin">Wheaton man released:

A former Wheaton-area resident who's now a reporter for The Washington Post, Jason Rezalan, is one of five Americans released from Iran after being taken into custody and accused of being a spy. He was held for more than 500 days in Iran's notorious Evin Prison and was freed with two others as part of a prisoner deal linked to the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement.

<h3 class="leadin">Cop finds missing couple:

A Wood Dale husband and wife, Donald and Jeanette Warren, both suffering from degrees of dementia, go missing for more than a day before they're found in Deerfield by an alert police officer, Rheanna Hall. The case draws more attention than usual because 87-year-old Donald is the founder of the Rosemont-based Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps. Both Donald and Jeanette were safe and sound.

<h3 class="leadin">Aurora's new fire chief:

Aurora's 2014 Firefighter of the Year, Fire Marshal Gary Krienitz, is tabbed by Mayor Tom Weisner to become the city's new fire chief to replace John Lehman, who steps down in February.

<h3 class="leadin">Kids flee bus, win competition:

One of two buses carrying members of the Wheaton Warrenville South High School Espitit Show Choir catches fire en route to a competition in Onalaska, Wisconsin. No one is hurt, but the blaze destroys the girls' costumes and makeup. Rather than give up, the girls decide the show must go on. Faculty advisers, parents and even complete strangers rally to provide the girls with costumes and the necessary accessories and the choirs go on to be named Grand Champions of the women's division.

February

<h3 class="leadin">Were symptoms ignored?

A DuPage County man living near Lombard files a federal lawsuit alleging DuPage County jailers ignored his son's signs of heroin withdrawal and let him die in custody. Totuccio Ceraulo files the suit less than a month after his 21-year-old son, Sebastiano Ceraulo, is found dead inside the DuPage County jail.

<h3 class="leadin">2 DuPage men die in crashes:

Two men are killed in separate freak crashes on different ends of the county on Feb. 17. Custodio “Gus” Acuna is working in the Roselle pizza restaurant that bears his name when the driver of a van loses control, plows into the building and kills the 53-year-old Streamwood man while he's working. In Naperville on that same day, 49-year-old resident Jeffrey Maxwell is struck by a car while crossing Washington Street near Bailey Road. He dies later that day of his injuries.

March

<h3 class="leadin">Watch out for that tree:

Roselle police release photos and a video on their revamped Facebook page that shows a 54-year-old Schaumburg woman driving down the street in January with a 15-foot tree stuck in the grill of her car. The woman, Maryann Christy, is charged with DUI.

<h3 class="leadin">Leniency in fatal DUI crash:

A Geneva man who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 2014 fatal DUI crash that killed two of his friends in Naperville is sentenced to four years of probation and one year in the DuPage County jail work release program after family members of the victims ask for leniency. Michael Szot, who was 21 at the time of the crash, also must take monthly drug tests, wear an alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet for three years and speak to students about the dangers of drinking and driving. Szot will be found dead three months later of an overdose of heroin, fentanyl and diphenhydramine.

<h3 class="leadin">Connecting addicts to help:

Naperville police launch Connect for Life, a program that offers help instead of arrest to people addicted to heroin. On the program's first day, police connect a 30-year-old Naperville man with a sobriety coach who gets him placed in an addiction treatment program despite his lack of insurance. By the end of the year, the program helps 13 addicts.

April

<h3 class="leadin">I'll never go back to prison:

A 34-year-old Aurora man, James Brown III, is killed during a shootout with police at a Richmond, Virginia, bus depot. Brown, who has a lengthy and violent criminal past, had fantasized about dying in a shootout with cops, his aunt said, and had told her he would never return to prison. Authorities are unsure what sparked his attack that killed Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer.

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Addison man gets 52 years:

An Addison man, Kurtis Worley, convicted of murdering his wife and stabbing his teenage stepson in 2013, is sentenced to 52 years in prison. Worley, 35, says he was drunk at the time of the attack and doesn't remember repeatedly stabbing his wife in the head and body while she slept.

May

<h3 class="leadin">Apparent hate crime a fake:

A black University of Iowa student from Naperville says he was attacked by three white men on campus who beat him while calling him racial slurs. Marcus Owens says he suffered several facial injuries in the attack. He later admits he made up the story to cover up the fact his injuries came from three separate fights in and outside a bar.

<h3 class="leadin">Former Wheaton man charged:

A Wheaton College graduate, Yeveginy Savenok, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his wife, Lyubov Savenok, and her unborn baby during an attack at their home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Just days before he was to appear in court to answer charges of violating a protection order, he told police he thought his wife was going to take his children and killing her was “probably like my only way out.”

June

<h3 class="leadin">Hanover Park man killed:

A 27-year-old Hanover Park man and Glenbard North graduate, Sami Salaymeh, is shot and killed while sitting in a pickup truck at a traffic light on Chicago's South Side. A 23-year-old woman also is wounded. Police say two people walked up to the vehicle and one of them, described only as a male Hispanic, opened fire. Salaymeh, who worked as a sound mixer, was remembered for his “contagious smile” and fun-loving nature.

<h3 class="leadin">Villa Park sex offender nabbed:

A Villa Park sex offender, Nicholas Gregor, is accused of trying to take a picture of a 12-year-old boy urinating in a Wrigley Field bathroom. Gregor also has video recordings of what appears to be other minors using the ballpark restroom.

<h3 class="leadin">Woman cleared of charges:

A Westmont woman charged with firing her husband's handgun at a police officer who responded to her 911 call is cleared of all charges. A DuPage judge finds Heidi Till, 49, not guilty of three counts of attempted first-degree murder and not guilty by reason of insanity on three charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm.

<h3 class="leadin">DUI arrests spike:

Police in Carol Stream and Rockford tie with the most DUI arrests in 2015 with 464, the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists reports. The number of DUI arrests in Carol Stream is up 32 percent from 2014.

<h3 class="leadin">Remembering Orlando victims:

DuPage residents of all faiths and lifestyles come together for a pair of vigils to remember 49 people killed in a gay club in Orlando by an armed terrorist. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

July

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Pilot killed in place crash:

A Florida man, Garry T. Bernardo, is killed when the small plane he is piloting crashes into a residential neighborhood near the Plainfield-Joliet border. No one else was on board at the time of the crash, which sparked a serious fire at a nearby home.

<h3 class="leadin">Woman guilty in cat slaying:

A 51-year-old Chicago woman, Kelly Palermo, pleads guilty to aggravated cruelty after admitting she helped her adult daughter kill the family's cat in Elmhurst. Palermo apparently became angry when the cat bit her and held the animal down while her daughter stabbed it at least five times, authorities say.

<h3 class="leadin">Arson charge in tent fire:

A 71-year-old Naperville man is charged with arson, accused of setting fire to a tent belonging to a well-known Naperville squatter, Scott Huber. James Povolo is charged with one felony count of arson after turning himself in.

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New Carol Stream fire chief:

Bob Hoff, a former Chicago Fire Department commissioner, is sworn in as chief of the Carol Stream Fire Protection District. Hoff joined Carol Stream in 2012 as its deputy chief. He takes the helm of the district from Rick Kolomay, who retired.

August

<h3 class="leadin">Search for Baby Hope's mom:

A newborn girl is found dead along a road near Wheaton and DuPage sheriff's police launch a massive hunt to find the girl's mother. Authorities say the state's safe haven laws, which allow mothers to drop off children up to 30 days old at hospitals, fire stations and police stations, should have prevented such a tragedy. At year's end the girl's parents still have not been found.

September

<h3 class="leadin">Man charged with assault:

A 51-year-old Wheaton man is held on $1 million bail after authorities say he repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl over a 10-year period. Timothy Peltz, who serves as a deacon at Roselle's Living Hope Bible Church, is charged with four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and faces between 24 and 120 years in prison if convicted.

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Settlement for Bland's family:

The family of former Naperville resident Sandra Bland receives a $1.8 million settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the Texas County where Bland died last year just days after being arrested in a traffic stop. The Texas Department of Public Safety also agrees to pay an additional $100,000. Authorities say Bland, 28, killed herself in the Walter County jail three days after being stopped by a Texas trooper.

<h3 class="leadin">Aurora cousins sentenced:

Two Aurora cousins are sentenced to decades in prison for plotting to murder as many as 150 people at a Joliet National Guard base. Former guardsman Hasan R. Edmonds and his cousin, Jonas M. Edmonds, claim they never planned to carry out the attack, but were caught planning it by an undercover FBI agent.

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'Surrounded by love':

Baby Hope is laid to rest in Wheaton's St. Michael Cemetery only a half-mile from where her body was found a month earlier along Plamondon Road. Roughly 50 people, many in law enforcement, attend the service.

<h3 class="leadin">Glen Ellyn kidnapping:

Three suspects are taken into custody in connection with the Aug. 26 kidnapping and robbery of a Wheaton College student who was forced into a vehicle in Glen Ellyn and then driven to at least three banks to take money out of ATMs before being released unharmed in Chicago.

October

<h3 class="leadin">Vests for Addison firefighters:

Addison Fire Protection District announces its firefighter/paramedics will be outfitted with bulletproof vests and ballistic helmets so they can treat and remove victims during active shootings and other situations where they need protection.

<h3 class="leadin">Threats at Hinsdale South:

A 16-year-old Hinsdale South student - who authorities say had an arsenal in his bedroom and made online threats against his high school and another student - is ordered held in a juvenile justice facility for at least two weeks. Authorities say police found a flare gun that had been converted to a working gun, as well as a shotgun, a sawed-off rifle, more than 150 rounds of ammunition, knives, ski masks and brass knuckles. His bedroom also contained Nazi posters and flags, a World War II German soldier's uniform, a Soviet flag and paper targets. He eventually is released to the custody of his mother.

November

<h3 class="leadin">State trooper honored:

On the anniversary of his death, state police honor the memory of state trooper John Kugelman, who was with the department for just three years when he was killed near Itasca while trying to assist with a high-speed chase. More than 200 family members, police officers, firefighters, legislators and citizens gathered at the Itasca Fire Department and later at the scene to designate the I-290/I-355 interchange in Kugelman's honor.

<h3 class="leadin">Theater owner sentenced:

The former owner of Naperville's Hollywood Palms theater, Edwin C. “Ted” Bulthaup, 59, of Woodridge, is sentenced to five years in prison for sales tax evasion and four years in prison for banking institution fraud.

<h3 class="leadin">Conviction in slaying:

A 23-year-old Chicago man, Stephan Russell, is convicted of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in the Jan. 19, 2014, slaying of 36-year-old Bensenville tobacco shop clerk Hussein Saghir. Russell likely will spend the rest of his life in prison.

December

<h3 class="leadin">Aurora man sentenced:

A 38-year-old Aurora man, Jose Loera, is sentenced to 48 years in prison for the murder of Heather Jacobi, a DuPage County jail nurse. Loera pleaded guilty in September to strangling Jacobi with a scarf she was wearing when he showed up unannounced at her apartment.

<h3 class="leadin">3 die on I-88:

Three people are killed when a Marine recruiter winds up driving the wrong way on I-88 in Naperville and crashes head-on into a Uber driver. Killed are the Marine, Domenic Andreoni of Elgin; Uber driver Ali Erhaima of Aurora; and passenger Shiva Inampudi of Naperville. The investigation is still pending at year's end.

<h3 class="leadin">Naperville activist shot:

Ronald Allen, 73, is shot and killed Dec. 2 while driving on the 1300 block of North Laramie Avenue in Chicago after playing cards with friends. Allen, a Democratic precinct committeeman who long had been involved with the DuPage County NAACP and DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle, recently had been working to improve police/community relations.

<h3 class="leadin">Laced gummy bears at school:

Police question a 17-year-old Naperville North High School student accused of bringing gummy bears laced with marijuana oil to the school Dec. 6, causing 12 students to get sick and require treatment and evaluation at the hospital. A police lab is testing the candies to determine their contents, but police say they appear to be homemade pot-laced gummies.

<h3 class="leadin">Second Glen Ellyn kidnapping:

In the second case of its kind this year, two men are charged with kidnapping and the armed robbery of a Glen Ellyn man who they forced at gunpoint to remove cash from several ATMs. This time the two suspects are from Glen Ellyn and Wheaton respectively.

<h3 class="leadin">Melee at Fox Valley:

Eight teens, five girls and three boys, are arrested and charged with a variety of misdemeanors after a melee erupts at Fox Valley Mall in Aurora on the evening after Christmas. Police are still investigating what triggered the clash, but it came on the same day as similar cases at malls across the country and some are suggesting it was prompted by social media.