SHOREWOOD, IL — Against the wishes of prosecutors at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, Shorewood music store owner Robert “Bobby” Brandolino was released from the Will County Jail on Halloween, where he had been held in connection with allegations he attacked and pistol whipped a woman inside his Shorewood home with a loaded gun last week.
On Oct. 29, the woman went to the emergency room in Plainfield to receive four staples to the back of her head to close the wound, according to prosecutors. According to prosecutors, the Shorewood Police Department recovered 15 guns from Bobby Brandolino’s house on Garden Terrace, ranging from handguns to rifles and shotguns. Shorewood police also recovered a tactical knife and a tactical axe from Bobby Brandolino’s home, court records show.
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Although the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office argued that Bobby Brandolino is a danger to the community; Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins ruled against the prosecution’s denial of pretrial release petition.
“By way of nature and circumstances, this defendant decided to escalate an argument over a messy dining room to the level of grabbing a firearm to resolve his anger,” prosecutors outlined in their petition seeking to keep Brandolino inside the Will County Jail for an indefinite period of time. “This defendant pressed a loaded firearm up to the forehead of his (victim) while (a) 16-year-old child watched.
“When his (victim) turned to get away, this defendant, again in front of (the) child, pistol whipped her in the back of the head, causing a laceration that required four staples to close. When she attempted to run, he followed her and broke down the locked bathroom door and grabbed her necklace and scratched her neck,” prosecutors outlined in their petition.
Prosecutors say Bobby Brandolino pointed his loaded handgun toward a 12-year-old boy who tried to intervene; and Brandolino threatened to “brain” him, which means kill him, according to the prosecution’s filing.
“The defendant was intoxicated during all of this, making his actions even more alarming,” prosecutors argued. “This defendant is a danger to his whole family and has shown it by these acts of violence and threats to kill them.”
Judge DeWilkins opted to put the 51-year-old Shorewood businessman on GPS electronic monitoring until further order of the court.
Brandolino was put on home confinement from 9:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday the entire 24 hours and from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Brandolino must stay away from the Shorewood home on Garden Terrace, and he must have no contact with the victim as well as two juveniles who were home when Shorewood police were sent to the house, resulting in Brandolino’s arrest. The victim later obtained an order of protection to keep Brandolino away from the three of them.
“I am requesting an order of protection against Robert because he put a gun to my head and then hit me with the gun in front of the kids … He was arrested, and he is in the Will County Jail,” the court documents reflected.
Prosecutors have charged Brandolino with seven crimes following last week’s arrest: aggravated domestic battery, four counts of domestic battery and two counts of aggravated assault.
By Monday afternoon, Joliet Patch discovered, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a sealed court document at the Will County Courthouse, informing Will County’s judges of an apparent pretrial release violation committed by Brandolino.
Brandolino was released from the jail on Halloween around 5 p.m. after being booked into the jail around 1 a.m. on Oct. 30.
Bobby Brandolino is being represented by one of Will County’s most notable criminal defense lawyers, George Lenard of Joliet.
“Defendant to maintain absolute sobriety. Defendant is not to access the security camera system electronically for the residence of … Garden Terrace, Shorewood,” the order for pretrial release from Judge DeWilkins noted.
According to a 2012 story in Patch, Brandolino co-owns and operates Brandolino’s Encore Music Center—a full service music center in Shorewood. Though housed in Shorewood, the center attracts students from surrounding areas such Joliet, Plainfield, Morris and Channahon as well.
Private lessons are provided for voice lessons and all instruments from over 20 instructors. Brandolino himself plays a little bit of everything, though his true passion belongs to the drums and the piano.
Brandolino grew up surrounded by music. His mother is a Mastered Piano Performance educator. His grandparents, Sandro “Sandy” and Helen Brandolino, owned and operated the Brandolino West Side Music Center in Joliet for over 40 years. Sandy was a percussionist and Helen, an accomplished pianist, graduated from the first music major class at Joliet Junior College.
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