Clicky----> Police: WIU students arrested with cache of weapons - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com
The problem I see here, besides the sensationalism is that they had loaded pistols in the car. I don't think anything else is really against the law unless they didn't have stamps for the silencer (if they were). I wonder if they actually had bullet proof vests or if they just had vests. Illinois, don't you just love it!
By JODI POSPESCHIL
OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Posted Dec 11, 2008 @ 09:26 PM
MACOMB —
Two men were stopped for speeding early Thursday in a truck filled with loaded guns, ammunition and military-style paraphernalia, and a comparable amount of weapons was found at one of their homes, authorities said.
Bryce A. Standley, 25, of Macomb and Nicholas R. Holik, 20, of Mount Prospect were charged Thursday in McDonough County court with three counts each of aggravated unlawful use of weapons and unlawful use of weapons.
Standley and Holik, both students at Western Illinois University, were released from jail Thursday afternoon on $25,000 bond each.
Both men have Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification cards.
A sheriff's deputy stopped their pickup truck northwest of Macomb near McDonough County roads East 750th and North 1700th at about 2:40 a.m. Thursday.
Prosecutors said the truck was stopped in the roadway near a home but made a U-turn and drove away as the deputy approached. The pickup was then stopped for speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone.
A later search of the vehicle turned up two rifles and two loaded pistols, most or all with paraphernalia including silencers, optical sites and laser pointers attached. One of the pistols, a .22-caliber, was under the driver's seat, while the other was under the passenger's seat.
Also in the vehicle, police found two military gas masks, two sets of military night vision goggles, 22 AR-15 loaded magazines and nearly 250 ammunition shells. Both men were also wearing bulletproof vests.
Prosecutors said the men told police they had fired the weapons at targets before they were stopped and that they were coyote hunting.
"There is absolutely no evidence of anything sinister here," said Holik's defense attorney, Craig Pierce of Bushnell, in arguing for a lower bond.
Circuit Judge John Clerkin reduced the bond to $25,000 from the $50,000 requested by Melidis.
Standley's defense attorney, Karl Johnson, asked Clerkin if he could offer testimony from Standley's parents and a family friend, retired Third District Appellate Judge Kent Slater, all of whom attended Thursday's court appearance.
Instead, Johnson ended up reciting what he believed the witnesses would testify to, including that Standley has no criminal record and is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, a senior law enforcement major at WIU and he holds down a local job.
Prosecutors said police were granted permission to search Standley's home. There they found a weapon "cache" equal to or larger than the weaponry found in the truck.
Melidis said there is a "high probability" the charges could be amended based on the discovery of the additional weapons and the possibility one of the guns seized in the truck could be a machine gun.
Standley is scheduled to return to court Jan. 7. Holik's next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
The problem I see here, besides the sensationalism is that they had loaded pistols in the car. I don't think anything else is really against the law unless they didn't have stamps for the silencer (if they were). I wonder if they actually had bullet proof vests or if they just had vests. Illinois, don't you just love it!
By JODI POSPESCHIL
OF THE JOURNAL STAR
Posted Dec 11, 2008 @ 09:26 PM
MACOMB —
Two men were stopped for speeding early Thursday in a truck filled with loaded guns, ammunition and military-style paraphernalia, and a comparable amount of weapons was found at one of their homes, authorities said.
Bryce A. Standley, 25, of Macomb and Nicholas R. Holik, 20, of Mount Prospect were charged Thursday in McDonough County court with three counts each of aggravated unlawful use of weapons and unlawful use of weapons.
Standley and Holik, both students at Western Illinois University, were released from jail Thursday afternoon on $25,000 bond each.
Both men have Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification cards.
A sheriff's deputy stopped their pickup truck northwest of Macomb near McDonough County roads East 750th and North 1700th at about 2:40 a.m. Thursday.
Prosecutors said the truck was stopped in the roadway near a home but made a U-turn and drove away as the deputy approached. The pickup was then stopped for speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone.
A later search of the vehicle turned up two rifles and two loaded pistols, most or all with paraphernalia including silencers, optical sites and laser pointers attached. One of the pistols, a .22-caliber, was under the driver's seat, while the other was under the passenger's seat.
Also in the vehicle, police found two military gas masks, two sets of military night vision goggles, 22 AR-15 loaded magazines and nearly 250 ammunition shells. Both men were also wearing bulletproof vests.
Prosecutors said the men told police they had fired the weapons at targets before they were stopped and that they were coyote hunting.
"There is absolutely no evidence of anything sinister here," said Holik's defense attorney, Craig Pierce of Bushnell, in arguing for a lower bond.
Circuit Judge John Clerkin reduced the bond to $25,000 from the $50,000 requested by Melidis.
Standley's defense attorney, Karl Johnson, asked Clerkin if he could offer testimony from Standley's parents and a family friend, retired Third District Appellate Judge Kent Slater, all of whom attended Thursday's court appearance.
Instead, Johnson ended up reciting what he believed the witnesses would testify to, including that Standley has no criminal record and is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, a senior law enforcement major at WIU and he holds down a local job.
Prosecutors said police were granted permission to search Standley's home. There they found a weapon "cache" equal to or larger than the weaponry found in the truck.
Melidis said there is a "high probability" the charges could be amended based on the discovery of the additional weapons and the possibility one of the guns seized in the truck could be a machine gun.
Standley is scheduled to return to court Jan. 7. Holik's next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
