Father Of Accused Highland Park Shooter Charged With Seven Counts Of Reckless Conduct

The father of alleged Highland Park shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III has been charged with reckless conduct for signing off on his son’s application for a gun owner’s ID.

On Friday, Robert Crimo, Jr. was charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct, one of each of the seven victims who died in the shooting. Jacki Sundheim, 63, Nicolas Toledo, 76, Katherine Goldstein, 64, Irina McCarthy, 35, her husband Kevin McCarthy, 37, Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, and Stephen Strauss, 88, were all killed in the July 4th shooting in an Illinois suburb.

Crimo Jr. turned himself in to authorities on Friday and is held on a $500,000 bond. He is facing anywhere from probation to jail time if convicted.

During a press briefing posted to Facebook, Lake County District Attorney Eric Reinhart said that Crimo, Jr. “took a reckless and unjustified risk when he decided, on Dec. 16, 2019, to sign his son’s application for a firearm owner’s ID or FOID card.”

Reinhart explained that because Crimo III. was 19 at the time, he would have been ineligible to purchase a firearm without his father signing off for the FOID card. Anyone between 18 and 20 years old needs a parent or guardian’s consent to receive the ID.

Reinhart believes that parents are poised to know whether or not their teens should have a weapon.

“In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo, Jr. sponsored his son,” he said. “He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway. This was criminally reckless and a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on Jul. 4.”

According to Reinhart, the application process for the FOID has since been updated. He did not go into further detail about what led to his office moving forward with the charges.

However, it has been widely reported that before obtaining a gun license, Crimo III attempted suicide with a machete in 2019 and, according to a police report, has a history of attempts. Later that same year, a family member contacted police that Crimo III threatened to “kill everyone” and had a collection of knives.

“Mr. Robert Crimo Jr. voluntarily surrendered himself to the Highland Park Police Department at 2 pm today,” Crimo, Jr.’s lawyer, George M. Gomez, told CBS News in a statement. “We firmly believe these charges are baseless and unprecedented.”

“On the eve of the statute of limitations for reckless conduct related to the sponsorship of Crimo III’s FOID application, the Lake County State’s County hastily made a decision to charge my client. This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States of America who, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney, knows exactly what is going on with their 19-year-old adult children and can be held criminally liable for actions taken nearly three years later.”

Gomez said they would be fighting the charges. Following the shooting, Crimo, Jr. told media outlets that he did not believe he did anything wrong by helping his son obtain a gun license.