Fourth person arrested in Streamwood attack
A fourth defendant was ordered held on $250,000 bail Wednesday on charges stemming from an Aug. 21 attack on a 20-year-old Streamwood man.
William Neal, 23, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and armed robbery. Co-defendants Valerie Munoz, 22, Edwin Rea, 22 and Javier Lopez, 23, all of Hanover Park, appeared in bond court last month on the same charges. Munoz was ordered held on $400,000 bail. Rea and Lopez were ordered held on $450,000 bail.
According to prosecutors, Munoz suspected the 20-year-old victim had something to do with defamatory statements posted about her online. She arranged to meet him Aug. 21, and drove him in her car to Challenger Park, said Cook County assistant state's attorney Caitlin Casey. After Munoz and the man exited the car, Rea and Lopez struck him about the head and body with baseball bats, Casey said. After taking the man's cellphone and some cannabis, the defendants left, Casey said.
According to a Streamwood Police Department news release, officers arrived to find the man bleeding from his head injuries, which they say could have been caused by a gunshot and blunt force trauma.
Munoz, Rea and Lopez were arrested Aug. 26. Neal was arrested Aug. 30, according to authorities who say the attack was an isolated incident and there was no threat to the public.
If convicted of the most serious charges, the defendants face up to 30 years in prison.
They next appear in court Sept. 21.