Ex-Addison cop out on bond in domestic dispute
A former Addison police officer accused of unlawfully firing his gun and violating a protection order by sending disturbing photos to his estranged wife and her mother is out on bond with a chance to have the felonies wiped from his record.
Danny Owens, 40, had been held without bond in DuPage County jail since he was taken into custody on Feb. 10. He recently was released on $25,000 bond, according to court records, and was admitted into the DuPage County Mental Illness Court Alternative Program, or MICAP.
Prosecutors said Owens pleaded guilty to the felony count of reckless discharge of a firearm as part of his admission into the program. But the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor of attempted reckless discharge of a firearm if he successfully completes the program.
Prosecutors also agreed to drop the order of protection violation charge.
If he fails to complete every aspect of the contract to enter the alternative program, Owens immediately will be sentenced on the felony charge, authorities said.
Prosecutors, during an earlier bond hearing, said police officers responding to a wellness check at Owens' residence on Jan. 31 found him bloody and suicidal.
The check was made after Owens texted photos to his wife and mother-in-law of his “blood all over the floor” of the Carol Stream house they once shared.
“(Owens) cut his arms and feet and told the responding police officers to shoot him with their service weapons because he did not want to live any more,” Assistant States Attorney Cathy DeLaMar said during the earlier hearing.
Reading from court documents, Judge Daniel Guerin said Owens cut himself with a butcher knife and “jumped up and down on broken glass to cut his feet.” Prosecutors said Owens also made homicidal threats about two other Addison police officers, specifically his former partner on the force.
Authorities say Owens' troubles began on Dec. 23, the day after his girlfriend broke up with him. He was charged with recklessly discharging a gun five times while he was alone in his home on the 1300 block of Big Horn Trail in Carol Stream. According to court records, two of the bullets penetrated the home's north wall and flew into the street.
The next day his wife, who filed for divorce in late October, sought an emergency order of protection against Owens to protect herself and the couple's two young children. On Jan. 3, Owens turned himself in to Carol Stream police on the firearms charge, and posted $300 bail.
The order of protection was renewed on Jan. 13. At that time, Owens was granted limited visitation rights with his children.
He was formally indicted on the weapons charge on Jan. 30, the day before sending the bloody photos.
According to the program's contract, Owens must submit to breath, urine and blood testing, permit probation officers to visit him, and attend a National Alliance on Mental Illness support group. Owens also must wear a GPS monitor to ensure he stays 1,000 feet from his wife, her home and her employer.
In addition to staying away from his wife, Owens is prohibited from having any contact with the two officers he allegedly threatened and is prohibited from entering the Addison Police Department or village hall.
Owens also is wearing a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor bracelet to detect alcohol consumption.
Prosecutors said the program is a tool to redirect offenders who have a mental health diagnosis that was a contributing factor in the commission of the crime.
Owens is due in court in his pending divorce case on June 25.