Suspect pleads not guilty to attempted murder in Lake in the Hills

A 19-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to the attempted first-degree murder of a relative he is accused of stabbing in the back last month in a Lake in the Hills home.

Anthony J. Bielecki, who is being held on $500,000 bail n the McHenry County jail, also pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated domestic battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated battery with the use of a deadly weapon.

When Bielecki was first arrested, the initial criminal complaint did not include the more serious felony of attempted first-degree murder. If convicted on this charge, he faces six to 30 years in prison, to be served at 85%, three years of mandatory supervised release and up to $25,000 in fines, Judge James Cowlin said during his arraignment Monday.

According to an order of protection, the relative was attempting to pass Bielecki to walk down the stairs of her home on the 600 block of Loree Lane when she felt a sharp pain in her upper back. She ran outside, and a passerby called 911.

The relative suffered a collapsed lung as a result of the stabbing, court records said.

Bielecki, who police said at the time of his arrest lived in Arlington Heights, is listed in McHenry County court documents as living in the Lake in the Hills home where the stabbing occurred. According to the order of protection, he was visiting at the time of attack.

Bielecki is accused of taking a "substantial step towards the commission" of attempted first-degree murder "with the intent to kill" the relative on the afternoon of Aug. 13, according to the criminal complaint.

Bielecki must post $50,000 to be released pending trial. He is due next in court Oct. 24.