Community Corner
Blown Away: Court Supervision
A Joliet man was severely burned when he allegedly blew up his house shortly after police questioned him about his missing girlfriend.
This article was written by Patch Editor Joseph Hosey
Nobody wants to go to court on a criminal charge, but blowing up your own house—while you're still inside it—is a pretty drastic measure to take if you're trying to dodge a case.
But that's just what the police suspect James Borg was doing when he allegedly disconnected the gas line to his dryer and blew up his Joliet home.
Detectives had questioned Borg about his missing girlfriend, 52-year-old Anne Gay, just days before the explosion, said Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas of the Will County Sheriff's Department. Deputies also searched Borg's home and truck, and seized evidence, Kaupas said.
During the search, a cadaver dog discovered signs of a corpse having been inside the house, Kaupas said.
Borg, 44, suffered burns to 70 percent of his body in the explosion, Kaupas said. He remains at Loyola University Medical Center.
Here's what was going on in court last week:
- The needles and plastic baggies allegedly found in former Will County Chief Judge Rodney Lechwar's home won't send his druggie son back to prison or catch him a new case, a special prosecutor said. "They're referring him to drug treatment," special prosecutor Charles Colburn said of Lechwar's son, Matthew Lechwar.
- A woman sued Pelican Harbor Aquatic Park and the Bolingbrook Park District for injuries she and her son supposedly suffered on a water slide in August. The lawsuit was the second filed against Pelican Harbor and the park district in a little more than a month. In the previous suit, a woman claimed she was knocked unconscious near the end of a ride down a water slide.
- A man convicted of threatening Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow was supposed to be shipped off to a mental hospital nearly three months ago but still remains in jail. A special prosecutor assigned to the case of Jason Chance said that the jailed man is now fifth on a waiting list to get into Elgin Mental Health Center.
- A mentally disabled woman in the care of Cornerstone Services fell 17 times in three months before dying of her injuries, according to a lawsuit filed in Will County court.
- An Orland Park man jailed for allegedly unleashing a vicious beating on his elderly, disabled father has hired a private attorney to defend him. Public defender Samantha Blake Washlow withdrew from the case of Mark Williamson and was replaced by attorney Mike Brennan during a hearing at the Bridgeview courthouse.
- Attorneys may work on a deal next month in the case of a Justice man charged in connection with a deadly drunken crash in Palos Township. Sam Cafi, 29, was scheduled to return to Cook County Judge John Joseph Hynes' Bridgeview courtroom Aug. 22.
- A Lockport man charged with stabbing his girlfriend in the head with a steak knife was apprehended in Chicago and appeared in bond court Friday afternoon. Daniel Bandemer, 33, told Will County Judge Rick Mason he has no job, income or assets. Mason appointed the public defender's office to Bandemer's case and kept his bond at the $500,000 set on the warrant for his arrest.
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