A suburban teen with a small history of petty theft set fire to a police vehicle during unrest in Aurora this week in an act of “revenge” against law enforcement, prosecutors say.
Authorities say she has no ties to antifa or the white supremacy groups that some have blamed for the violence and vandalism across the country.
She has no job and lives with her mom in Kendall County, according to court records.
Vianney Huerta, 19, offers a small portrait of the 21 people arrested following the unrest in Aurora last Sunday. It’s a disparate, racially diverse group that includes a former reality TV personality, a married couple and several 20-somethings with no connections to extremist groups on either end of the political spectrum, investigators say.
Indeed, authorities say those arrested have seemingly few ties to one another except for their alleged roles in overshadowing the nonviolent protests meant to convey the urgent need for racial equality and police accountability across the country.
“They are drowning out the message that needs to be heard, not just by the public, but by those who are in a position to do something about it,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.
McMahon’s office has charged 11 people with felonies in connection to Aurora’s unrest, including, police say, a husband and wife who attempted to loot a far north side Walmart early Monday morning while local authorities were focused on the devastated downtown. A deputy on his way home from work saw the couple, along with three others, putting electronics and liquor into a car and helped make the arrest, Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said.
Erica and Frankie Higgins, of Montgomery, were released on their own personal recognizance. The couple, who could not be reached comment, are expected back in court in August.
Prosecutors also charged Bolingbrook resident Michael Salter, 19, with burglary after the Walgreens across from the Aurora police station was broken into Sunday. Salter appeared on the short-lived Lifetime reality series “Bringing Up Ballers,” which followed the lives of Chicago-area basketball stars and their mothers.
Salter’s attorney declined comment Friday.
The chaos began Sunday following a nonviolent protest in which Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman met with demonstrators and joined them in chants of “justice now!”
As Ziman answered questions about everything from body cameras to her department’s hiring practices, a clear divide emerged among those gathered. Some wanted to engage with the officers and continue a nonviolent protest, while others demanded more aggressive tactics.
The two sides shouted at each other until the more hostile group eventually moved downtown and people began plundering businesses.
Using cinder blocks from a nearby construction site, people shattered storefront windows and climbed inside the businesses as police in riot gear watched. After breaking into one jewelry store, masked looters emerged carrying trays of necklaces and watch boxes.
Some hurled large chunks of concrete at police, while others lit fireworks within feet of officers. A bullet was fired into the window of the armored police vehicle purchased last year following the mass shooting just a few miles away at the Henry Pratt Co.
Authorities responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets repeatedly into the crowds.
While the sheriff’s office requested mutual aid from other departments, the response was low as many towns held officers back to protect their own communities. The Kane County sheriff’s office only had 25 deputies trained to handle riots, making their task even more arduous.
“Those numbers were just not large enough,” Hain said.
More than two dozen buildings were vandalized and several stores were looted the following night in Naperville. Four people also were arrested on allegations they attempted to burglarize a local gun shop during the mayhem.
Law-enforcement officers and Tribune reporters independently recognized people who had attended both events. Authorities also spotted some of those same people at a nonviolent protest in Batavia on Wednesday and spoke with them before the demonstration began.
“Local law enforcement proactively reached out to them and had a discussion with them,” McMahon said. “I think that might have dissuaded them from trying to incite other people to hijack a civil protest and turn it into something criminal.”
In 2018, McMahon successfully prosecuted Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke’s second-degree murder conviction marked the first murder conviction of a Chicago police officer in half a century.
Given his experience with that case, McMahon said he feels a heightened obligation to ensure the demonstrators’ message isn’t eclipsed by violence and vandalism. He has given his staff permission to participate in protests, as long as they agree to help defuse situations when possible and leave if the peaceful gatherings are overtaken by violent groups.
“I respect the fact that people across this nation are angry and frustrated about the ongoing lack of attention to issues of inequality, racism and the maltreatment of African Americans. I agree that we should be much farther down the road toward a more equal and just society,” McMahon said. “The individuals (facing charges) were more interested in mayhem. … All are opportunistic criminals who sought to steal the spotlight away from those who were demonstrating, whether by looting, engaging in violent conduct or putting someone’s life and safety at risk.”
State, local and federal investigators continue to investigate the Aurora unrest, combing through hours of video from surveillance cameras, drones and dashboard camera, authorities said. They also are using facial recognition software to identify suspects.
McMahon said Huerta was identified after police officers and an assistant state’s attorney spent hours poring over images from the scene. Authorities said the teen lit a fire inside a squad car parked on East New York Street.
The fire quickly spread throughout the vehicle owned by the Elgin Police Department, which was on site to help. Onlookers erupted in loud cheers once the squad car became engulfed by flames. She was charged with arson.
“It puts every person’s life in danger,” Kane County assistant state’s attorney Mark Stajdohar said.
Huerta was previously arrested in 2018 by Lombard police for stealing makeup from a J.C. Penney. She pleaded guilty and received court supervision, records show.
She also was arrested for retail theft in 2019 by Chicago police, but the case was not prosecuted, Stajdohar said.
“If this is something (revenge) from the Chicago Police Department or Lombard, it’s clearly taken out on the wrong police department,” he said.
Huerta remained in Kane County Jail on Friday evening on $10,000 bond.
