Jury Finds Melrose Park Man Guilty Of Road Rage Shooting

Press release from the DuPage County State’s Attorney Office:

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that late last night a jury found a Melrose Park man accused of opening fire on the driver of another automobile following a traffic altercation in October, 2017, guilty of one count of Aggravated Battery With a Firearm (Class X Felony) and two counts of Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm (Class 1 Felony).

The jury, which was the first twelve-person jury in DuPage County since the pandemic began, returned their verdict against Angelo Navarro, 26 (d.o.b. 4/27/1994) of the 3100 block of Alta Avenue, at approximately 10:20 p.m. last night following a five-day trial and approximately six hours of deliberations.

On October 30, 2017, Navarro appeared in Bond Court where bond was set at $1.5 million with 10% to apply. He has remained in custody since that time at the DuPage County Jail. On October 28, 2017, at approximately 2 p.m., Elmhurst Police were dispatched to a call of a crash near York Road and Diversey Avenue.

Upon their arrival, officers found only one vehicle with a shattered driver’s side window. Officers also found the driver of that vehicle outside of the car bleeding from his face. The victim was immediately transported to the hospital where he underwent surgery for his injuries. He had been shot in the left cheek with the bullet exiting through his right cheek.

An investigation into the mater found that Navarro and his victim were both waiting at an intersection to turn left with Navarro in front of his victim. As the men proceeded through the intersection, the victim went around Navarro and drove away. Navarro then followed the victim and began tailgating him.

A short while later, Navarro pulled his vehicle into the oncoming traffic lane next to the driver’s side of his victim’s car and fired his gun at his victim’s car through the front passenger side of his vehicle.

“Mr. Navarro’s violent actions that afternoon nearly cost the victim in this case his life,” Berlin said. “Not only did he cause serious injury to his victim, but he also endangered the lives of the motoring public as well as the lives of the occupants of both vehicles, including his own child. I would like to thank Judge George Bakalis for ensuring a fair trial for both sides as well as the jury for seeing through Mr. Navarro’s claim that shooting a man in the face while he was driving is an act of self-defense. I would like to thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Helen Kapas, Rob Willis and Heather Misura for their fine work in holding Mr. Navarro responsible for his extremely dangerous actions.”

Navarro’s sentencing is scheduled for November 17, 2020. He faces a penalty of between six to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Correction.

This press release was produced by the DuPage County State’s Attorney Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.