When Property Defense Leads to Arrest

Trespass Followed by Pursuit in Lee County

A homeowner in Lee County faces criminal charges after initiating a chase of juveniles who were allegedly trespassing on dirt bikes through his property.  The homeowner called the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to report trespassers on his property before hopping on a side-by-side vehicle to give chase after the three and causing a crash. A side-by-side vehicle is an off-road vehicle used for purposes including recreational and utility tasks.  

Once the teens realized they were being pursued, they split up and went in different directions. The homeowner followed one of them off of his property and onto the Richardson Wildlife Foundation land, which is privately owned. This was about three miles away from where the chase began.  

The homeowner attempted to stop the teen on his dirt bike and drove up next to him three times unsuccessfully. He then rear ended the teen and caused them to crash and the homeowner himself drove into a tree. The teen was taken to a hospital by ambulance and released after being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.  

Charges Against Homeowner

The teen will be issued an ordinance violation for trespassing at a later date, while the homeowner has been charged with reckless driving, aggravated reckless driving, and trespass.  Reckless driving is defined in the Illinois Compiled Statutes as the act of driving any vehicle with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. The charge is elevated to aggravated reckless driving if during the violation of reckless driving, the person causes bodily harm to a child. The Statute further states that reckless driving is a Class A misdemeanor, while aggravated reckless driving is a class 4 felony.

In this case, the homeowner may likely be found guilty of reckless driving as he willfully engaged in a chase on a motorized vehicle and wantonly rear ended the teen. He also caused the teen to crash, causing him bodily harm, and considering that the teen is a minor child in the eyes of the law, this satisfies the condition necessary to elevate this to aggravated reckless driving. Ironically, the homeowner is also charged with trespassing since he not only chased the teens off of his own property, he decided to keep going and entered other private property not belonging to him.  

Trespass Defined

Trespass occurs when you knowingly enter property which does not belong to you and to which you do not have the lawful right to enter. Under Illinois law, this is typically a Class B misdemeanor and is considered a criminal offense. The Illinois criminal trespass statute does not prohibit a person from entering the land of another for emergency purposes. It defines "emergency" as a situation in which an individual is or reasonably believes they are in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or in which property is or is reasonably believed to be in imminent danger of damage or destruction.  

Analysis

In this case, the homeowner had already called the Sheriff’s department, the teens had already taken off, and the homeowner chose to leave the boundaries of his own land. He would know, after all, what those boundaries are, so this was willful. The best option for him would have been to let the authorities handle the matter.