Man gets 30 years in prison for attempted murder

October 24

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a Chicago man on Monday was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempted murder for the 2008 shooting of a Joliet man who was standing in his driveway.

Arturo Romero, 21, also was convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Romero and several others had an altercation with the victim’s two sons outside their Joliet house on the evening of Oct. 12, 2008.

Shortly before midnight, Romero returned to the residence and fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun at the victim as he stood on his own driveway. Romero struck the victim in the elbow and in the ankle. He fired again as the man attempted to crawl away, striking him in the thigh and grazing his chest. 

The victim survived and identified Romero from a photo lineup nearly two weeks later. Police retrieved the weapon after questioning Romero’s friends, who testified against the defendant. Ballistics testing on the casings retrieved from the crime scene showed they matched that weapon.

“Arturo Romero is a brutal street thug who continued firing on a wounded, unarmed man as he tried to crawl away from this assailant,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “He is a vicious criminal who deserves every single minute he will spend in prison.”

The State’s Attorney thanked prosecutors Chris Koch and Jessica Colon-Sayre for their excellent work securing a conviction and sentence that takes Romero off the streets. The State’s Attorney also credited the Joliet Police Department for its first-rate investigation.

Two other defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the shooting earlier this year. David Hensley, 21, was sentenced to 13 years for solicitation to commit aggravated discharge of a firearm. Roberto Flores, 20, was sentenced to eight years for aggravated discharge of a firemarm. They both testified against Romero at trial.