A Melrose Park man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for shooting another driver in DuPage County over eight years ago.
Angelo Navarro, 31, was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm at a bench trial in September.
The charges come from a road rage incident on October 28, 2017, near York Road and Diversey Avenue in Elmhurst. Police officers responding to a crash report discovered a vehicle with a cracked driver’s side window and the driver bleeding from the face.
The victim underwent surgery at a hospital after being shot in the left cheek. The bullet exited through the right cheek.
Mr. Navarro’s egregious disregard for public safety will result in eighteen years in prison,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “In addition to shooting at another motorist, his actions not only endangered the life of the passengers in his vehicle but also the lives of the motoring public.”
Navarro was initially indicted in 2017 and later convicted by a jury in 2020, but a judge ordered a fresh trial after determining that the verdicts were legally inconsistent. Navarro’s pretrial release was revoked upon his conviction in the 2025 bench trial, and he has since remained in detention at the DuPage County Jail.
Navarro must serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for release.
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