Aurora Man Sentenced To Year In Prison For Throwing Explosive At Cops

AURORA, IL — A 21-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to spend a year in federal prison and must pay more than $13,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to throwing a lit explosive device at Naperville police during a downtown civil disturbance two years ago.

Christian Rea was sentenced to prison time after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obstructing law enforcement officers during a time of civil unrest, U.S. Attorney John Lausch announced on Wednesday.

Rea, who must also pay $13,585.66 in restitution to the City of Naperville, was charged after he was involved in the incident in downtown Naperville on June 1, 2020, Lausch’s office said. Officers arrived at the scene where police said dozens of people were causing damage to downtown businesses.

In a plea agreement, Rea admitted that he threw a lit explosive or incendiary device into a line of ununiformed officers who were standing next to a police vehicle, prosecutors said. As a result of the explosion, several officers were injured and experienced repeated headaches, ringing in the ears, and vision loss, prosecutors said.

“By intentionally throwing the firework at police officers, the defendant demonstrated a lack of respect for the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His actions could have sparked the crowd to engage in the very unlawful conduct the officers were there to prevent.”