The father of the man charged in the Highland Park Fourth of July parade shooting was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday for helping his son obtain firearms.
Robert E. Crimo Jr. is to be arraigned Thursday on seven counts of reckless conduct for sponsoring his son’s state gun ownership application despite allegedly knowing his son had threatened to kill himself and his family.
Lake County state’s attorney office spokesman Steven Spagnolo confirmed details about the grand jury indictment.
Crimo Jr. has been free on bail since prosecutors charged him in December.
Prosecutors filed seven counts, one for each person killed at the Highland Park parade last year. A reckless conduct charge carries a maximum sentence of three years.
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement Wednesday.
“We presented our evidence to a grand jury and they agreed the case should move forward. We will continue to seek justice for the victims and prosecute those who endanger the community,” Rinehart said.
Crimo Jr.’s son, Robert E. Crimo III, allegedly fired a rifle legally purchased with a Firearm Owners Identification card, wounding nearly 50 people as they lined the streets for the parade.
The younger Crimo, 22, remains in custody at Lake County Jail pending his ongoing murder case.
Crimo III was 19 when he applied for a FOID card and needed a parent’s signature.
After Crimo Jr. provided that signature in December 2019, his son was able to obtain the FOID card the next year despite previously threatening to kill himself and his family, authorities have said.
Police responded twice in 2019 to Crimo’s Highland Park home after the younger Crimo allegedly made the threats, according to authorities.
But when officers questioned Crimo III, he said he didn’t want to harm himself or others, authorities said. Police found knives in Crimo III’s closet, but his father said they were his, authorities said. No one was arrested.
Although officers filed a “clear and present danger” with the state, Illinois State Police later said there was an insufficient basis to deny the FOID application.
The elder Crimo’s attorney, George Gomez, has called the charges “baseless and unprecedented.”
At a court hearing in January, prosecutors asked Judge George Strickland for more time to indict the elder Crimo, citing a delay due to absences in the state’s attorney’s office.
This is at least the second time in a year that authorities brought charges against parents of mass shooting suspects. In December 2021, prosecutors filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a 15-year-old accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school.
