Second of three plead guilty in bar fight in St. Charles
The second of three people charged with a felony hate crime after a fight outside a bar in St. Charles in January has pleaded guilty to reduced charges.
Christopher M. Miner, 31, of the 100 block of North 15th Street, St. Charles, pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor battery and was given a year of probation and released from the Kane County jail after 63 days there while his case was pending, according to court records.
Miner’s jury trial was tentatively set for June.
Miner and two other St. Charles residents were charged with mob action, aggravated battery and a hate crime — all felonies — after a Jan. 6 altercation outside a bar in the 2000 block of Lincoln Highway (Route 38). They were charged with fighting with two men and yelling anti-gay slurs at them during the fight.
The most serious felonies carried three to seven years in prison, but probation also was an option.
Kane County prosecutors dropped the more serious felony charges in exchange for the plea, which was accepted by Judge Susan Clancy Boles. A message left at the Kane County Public Defender’s Office, which represented Miner, was not immediately returned.
Stephan C. Bolt, 31, of the 4N0-99 block of East Mary Lane, pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $2,000, according to court records.
The final defendant, Susan V. Patton, 32, of the 6N200 block of Woodlawn Road, appeared in court Friday.
Her defense attorney, Vince Solano, said prosecutors made an offer for a plea deal and Solano said the case could be resolved at Patton’s next court appearance April 26.
Solano acknowledged there was a fight Jan. 6 but disputed whether it rose to the level of felony hate crime. Solano said the fight started as a disagreement between Patton and another female at the bar, but it was not related to a person’s sexual orientation.
“There was an altercation and it spilled out into the parking lot,” Solano said. “Obviously, it got out of hand. But it had nothing to do with a hate crime.”