No charges for deputies involved in 2023 shooting death of Aurora man

Three Kane County sheriff’s deputies who shot a man to death have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced Friday that, after an investigation, she has determined no charges should be filed against them for the death of 38-year-old James Moriarty of Aurora.

“It was Mr. Moriarty’s choice, and his choice alone, that led to his death,” Mosser said at a news conference.

Moriarty was killed around 3 p.m. on May 24, 2023. He was suspected of a carjacking just before 2 p.m. at an oil-change business on Orchard Road south of I-88 in Aurora.

Deputies learned the description of the stolen vehicle and the suspected offender, and that he had a handgun. A license-plate reader discovered the vehicle at Route 25 and Stearns Road near South Elgin around 2:30 p.m., and a deputy found it at Randall and Gyorr Avenue soon after.

Two other deputies joined the chase through South Elgin, St. Charles and Geneva. One of them, Sgt. Michael Widlarz, tried three times to stop the car by deliberately striking it in what’s called a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver. The third one, at Fabyan, was successful, sending Moriarty’s car into a spin. It hit a median.

According to several videos shown at the news conference, Moriarty then got out of the car. At least one of the deputies yelled at him to drop an object he had in his right hand and lie down on the ground. Mosser said it appeared to be a gun.

Mosser said Moriarty instead appeared to start walking toward some people in nearby cars. Deputy Luke Weston ordered a police dog to apprehend Moriarty.

Deputies Widlarz, Eric Gustafson and Alan Garcia opened fire. Garcia fired once, Gustafson shot four times and Widlarz fired a rifle 13 times, including five shots when Moriarty was on the ground.

Moriarty had 17 bullet wounds. But some of them may have been caused by a single bullet, Mosser said.

The dog was accidentally hit by one of the bullets and died.

It turned out Moriarty had an air-powered pellet gun.

Controversy

The shooting was investigated by the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force.

Mosser said a law enforcement bulletin said officers should consider Moriarty armed and dangerous, that he had resisted and obstructed officers previously, that he was suicidal and “may be suicidal by cop.”

According to an Aurora police report, Moriarty had previously told a police officer he would rather kill himself by having police shoot him than return to prison. Family members also said Moriarty had made similar statements and that he was struggling with an opioid addiction. The Kane County coroner found evidence of cocaine in his blood, according to Mosser.

The case was marred by an interdepartmental squabble between Aurora and Hain’s office. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin criticized Hain in the aftermath, claiming Aurora police were planning to arrest Moriarty the night before the shooting, but the plan was scrapped because sheriff’s deputies interfered.

Moriarty was wanted by Aurora police on an array of charges stemming from multiple incidents that happened days before the shooting.

Undercover Aurora officers were watching a stolen vehicle Moriarty was using, planning to arrest him when he came out of his apartment to the vehicle. Kane County deputies in marked vehicles, however, disrupted Aurora’s plan. Officers said deputies were ordered by Hain to impound the vehicle immediately and tow it away, despite knowing about Aurora’s plans.

Hain denied knowing about Aurora police’s plans but criticized that department for their handling of the case. He told reporters Aurora police should have gone into the residence and arrested Moriarty, rather than waiting for the man to come out. He said Aurora police were “reactive” for “just sitting on it.”

“That type of police work is baiting someone to get into a pursuit,” the article quotes Hain as saying. “I would say they escalated things. Get a warrant and go into the apartment. Grab the guy.”

Issue with camera

While the officers were cleared of criminal wrongdoing, an administrative review by Hain’s office is now underway. One area expected to be scrutinized is Widlarz’s body-worn camera.

On Friday, Mosser said Widlarz violated state law on body-worn camera use by turning off the audio.

When Widlarz joined the chase, he turned off the audio of his squad camera, turned off the audio of his body camera and did not turn the audio back on the body camera when he got out of the squad. But, Mosser said, there wasn’t evidence to prove he did so with the intent to prevent the apprehension or obstruct the prosecution or defense of any person, one of the elements required to convict an officer of law-enforcement misconduct.

She also said he violated sheriff’s office policy by wearing his camera on his shoulder instead of in the middle of his chest. Because of that, that video does not show the shooting.

Hain said Widlarz was allowed to wear his camera on his shoulder because he is short, and when worn on the chest, Widlarz’s camera does not capture the faces of people he meets with as a patrol officer.

Hain said his command staff did not agree with Mosser’s assessment of the camera issue.

Mosser’s 28-page report is available at sao.kanecountyil.gov.