$1M bond set for BB gun defendant

MORRISON – Bond was set at $1 million Tuesday for a Rock Falls man charged with breaking into a house in Sterling Monday night with two friends, shooting a man in the forehead with a BB gun then fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Dustin L. Stage, 24, and co-defendants Cody L. Walters, 21, of Rock Falls, and Richard M. Espinoza, 18, of Sterling, appeared Tuesday in Whiteside County Court. Bond for Walters and Espinoza was set at $500,000 each.

All three have previous felony convictions in Whiteside County, and all are on probation.

They now are charged with aggravated unlawful restraint, home invasion and residential burglary. Stage and Espinoza also are charged with armed robbery; Stage, who is alleged to be the shooter, also is charged with aggravated battery; and Walters, who police say knew the residents, also is charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Walters also was served with an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant for an alleged parole violation.

Home invasion and armed robbery are Class X felonies that carry 6 to 30 years in prison.

According to police, the three pushed their way into a house in the 500 block of Avenue C shortly before 11:30 p.m. Monday.

A man, a woman and a child were home at the time, Officer Frank Hopes said.

The intruders, who were wearing masks, displayed a weapon, demanded money and fled on foot after one shot the man in the head, Hopes said.

Even though he wore a mask, one of the residents recognized Walters from previous encounters, Hopes said. They called police, and Walters and Espinoza were arrested during a  traffic stop in Rock Falls. Police arrested Stage at a motel just outside of Rock Falls.

All three were booked into Whiteside County Jail by 7 a.m., Hopes said, and appeared in court late Tuesday afternoon. They still were in jail Tuesday night; their preliminary hearings are Friday.

Stage was sentenced in May to 5 years probation for burglary. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison in 2007 for aggravated fleeing from a peace officer and 180 days in jail for resisting a peace officer and for possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison and a year in jail for burglary in 2005.

Stage also faces charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property in Iowa, according to jail staff.

Walters was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 18 months in jail in 2008, for burglary and obstructing justice. A misdemeanor marijuana case is pending.

In January, Espinoza was sentenced to 4 years probation and 180 days in jail for stealing scrap metal from the former Lawrence Hardware building in October.