St. Charles man guilty of vigilante gun charge

A 21-year-old St. Charles man has been convicted of using a gun in a vigilante attempt to reclaim stolen property.

Ryan C. Zalewa, of the 2700 block of Royal Kings Court, was found guilty of misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon Tuesday after a one-day bench trial in front of Kane County Judge Allen M. Anderson, according to the state's attorney's office. The charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

He was acquitted of a more serious charge, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Zalewa was arrested in August after police said he pointed a laser-sighted pistol at a man he believed to have stolen a global positioning system and radar detector from his car. The incident took place near the 2800 block of Turnberry Road, St. Charles.

Police said Zalewa had a firearm owner's identification card but was not authorized to take his gun from his home or business without locking it up. Police confiscated the weapon.