Looting

A different judge will hear the majority of the criminal cases pending against more than 40 defendants charged with looting last summer that left several local businesses heavily damaged and injured police officers called to quell the civil unrest.

Residents of the Twin Cities were subjected to a night of fear and anarchy when looting broke out earlier this year, a judge said on Friday, as he agreed to give one of the looters a chance on probation.

In a sentence contrary to a state recommendation for probation, a judge on Wednesday sentenced a Bloomington man to 4½ years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution to the Town of Normal for damages to police squad cars caused by looters earlier this year.

A McLean County judge delayed sentencing hearings Tuesday for two men charged in connection with last summer's looting after prosecutors could not provide figures for the restitution the judge insisted the defendants pay to the Normal Police Department and two businesses.

One of the more than 40 defendants charged with looting in Bloomington and Normal this summer has asked that a new judge handle his case, based on an alleged bias by the judge currently assigned to hear a majority of the cases.

Bloomington and Normal Police said Friday they’ve made nine additional arrests in connection with looting incidents earlier this week at Target and Eastland Mall.

Bloomington Police Chief Dan Donath confirmed Wednesday that his officers used tear gas Monday night to help disperse a crowd of looters outside Eastland Mall.

Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner said Tuesday he hopes the arrests of nearly 20 people on looting and other charges stemming from this week's vandalism in Bloomington-Normal will curtail the crime spree.

The vandalism and looting that has hit Bloomington-Normal in recent days isn't limited to major retailers. Some of it has been happening in neighborhoods.

Most of the people arrested in looting-related incidents Monday and Tuesday in Bloomington-Normal were McLean County residents, according to police and jail records.