With plea negotiations appearing to have fallen short, a trial is scheduled this month for a Waukegan man charged with posing as a police officer to rob people in several 2013 incidents.
Danny Blalock also faces felony drug charges involving heroin-related offenses near a Waukegan school.
Earlier this summer, prosecutors said negotiations were underway for a potential plea deal in the case, but those prospects have dimmed and no further progress has been made, Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Money said after a status hearing Wednesday.
Barring a change, a final pretrial case management hearing for Blalock is scheduled Aug. 13, and his trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 17.
Blalock was arrested during a drug raid at his home in October 2013, and was later identified as the suspect who had been using toy props to pose as a police officer and rob people, according to Waukegan police and prosecutors.
He is charged with manufacturing a controlled substance with intent to deliver, manufacturing of heroin and cocaine with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school, a Class X felony carrying a sentencing range of six to 30 years in prison, several counts of robbery, and false impersonation of an officer and theft by deception.
Police executing a search warrant at Blalock’s Ash Street residence in Waukegan allegedly found packaged crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Equipment to create an indoor cannabis-growing operation was also seized, according to a statement from Waukegan police.
Police also said that toy handguns, holsters, walkie-talkies, handcuffs, badges and a “POLICE” shirt were also recovered, and that after Blalock was taken into custody, he admitted to dealing drugs and committing several robberies in July and August of 2013 while posing as an officer.
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Blalock used the toys to impersonate an officer, approaching victims on foot, shining a flashlight in their eyes and demanding purses, wallets and cellphones, police said. The most he got in any of the robberies was about $30, authorities said.
No one was injured in any of the robberies.
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