June 25--A man who was shot by Crystal Lake police after officials said he lunged at an officer with a knife has now been charged criminally.
Joseph Laudicina, 29, of Addison, who remains hospitalized from a gunshot wound, was charged with home invasion, vehicular invasion and aggravated domestic battery, police said.
According to police, Laudicina battered a female family member at her Crystal Lake home, striking her in the face several times, choking her and threatening to kill her while armed with a knife.
He fled the home before police arrived, but soon after, around 1:30 a.m. Monday, authorities were called to another local residence for a report of an "unwanted subject," officials said.
Laudicina had entered the home, where the woman he allegedly attacked was present, police said. A responding police officer heard "calls of distress" inside the home, went in and was confronted by Laudicina, who charged at the officer with a knife, according to a police news release.
The officer fired his gun and hit Laudicina "at least once," the release said. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he remained Wednesday. His bond was set at $300,000.
Last year, court records show, Laudicina was charged in McHenry County with aggravated domestic battery for allegedly choking another woman who later obtained an order of protection against him. Those charges were still outstanding.
The alleged victim of the latest incident was the person who paid Laudicina's bail after his arrest last year, court records show.
Reached by phone, Laudicina's father, Anthony Laudicina, questioned why police couldn't have subdued his son using an electric shock or by physically restraining him.
"Somebody couldn't just tackle him like a man?" said the elder Laudicina, who added that he had not been in touch with his son recently. "It's not hard to stop him without using a gun."
Police declined to respond, citing the pending investigation. In other cases, police departments often have deemed officer-involved shootings justified if they reasonably feel they or someone else were in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.
Anthony Laudicina said his son had been devastated by the death earlier this year of his older brother, Salvatore Laudicina.
"He felt like dying too," the father said of Joseph Laudicina. "He didn't care."
The unidentified officer who shot Laudicina was placed on paid leave pending an Illinois State Police investigation of the shooting.
rmccoppin@tribpub.com
