Attorney claims mistaken ID of accused shooter

He didn't do it.

So says Peter E. Garbis, attorney for Ronnie Kindred, arrested Monday for shooting at employees of a car repossession company last week as they attempted to tow an Isuzu sport utility vehicle from a driveway in the 1900 block of Brighton Lane, Hoffman Estates.

"It wasn't him wielding the gun," said Garbis, adding that evidence will show this case to be one of mistaken identification.

Garbis made the comments Wednesday following a hearing in a Rolling Meadows courtroom, where he successfully argued for a reduction in his client's bond from $300,000 to $50,000.

"I think it's the fair thing to do," said Garbis. "He (Kindred) is a family man, a good man, a hardworking man."

Authorities charged the 42-year-old Kindred with aggravated discharge of a firearm following an incident Jan. 12 in which repo workers attempted to repossess both a vehicle that Garbis said belongs to Kindred's wife and a Cadillac police say belongs to Kindred.

The workers say that after they loaded the SUV, which was parked in the driveway, onto a tow truck, Kindred exited the house with a gun concealed by a towel, said assistant state's attorney Matt Fakhoury. After Kindred shouted at them to put the vehicle down and pointed the weapon at one of the men's faces, the workers fled, taking the SUV with them.

As they fled, the workers reported hearing five or six gunshots. When they reached a safe place, they called 911. Police arrived at the scene and found the suspect and the Cadillac missing, said Lt. Rich Russo of the Hoffman Estates police department. At the time of the altercation, the Cadillac had been parked in the shuttered garage.

On Friday, a Cook County judge issued an arrest warrant. After learning from his family that Hoffman Estates police were looking for him, Kindred turned himself in on Monday, accompanied by Garbis.

Kindred's address is listed on the 1900 block of Brighton Lane, but Garbis said his client does not live there. Garbis did say Kindred is a lifelong resident of Cook County who has four children and works in Aurora. He also said Kindred takes medication for diabetes.

Confirming Garbis' statement that his client has not been arrested in more than 20 years, Fakhoury reported that the defendant's criminal background consists of arrests for battery in 1986 and 1987, for which he received supervision.

If convicted, Kindred could face between four and 15 years in prison. He next appears in court on Feb. 18.