Dorian stoic as murder charge dropped

JOLIET | There were tears and anger Wednesday morning after a Will County judge dismissed the murder charge hanging over Brian Dorian's head.

All that emotion was shown by the Lynwood police officer's friends and family, who staunchly maintained his innocence. Dorian, who spent four days in the Will County lockup, remained stoic.

Judge Richard Schoenstedt freed Dorian, 37, of Crete Township, after prosecutors motioned to dismiss the charge filed in connection with the Oct. 5 bistate shootings near Beecher and Lowell. Rolando Alonso, 45, of Hammond, was killed in the Illinois shooting.

After a brief discussion with attorneys about the return of Dorian's seized personal property, namely the computer than helped to clear him, Schoenstedt set a status date of Oct. 26 to tie up any loose ends.

Dorian, looking freshly shaven and dressed in a shirt and tie -- far different from the grizzled man in prison togs who appeared in court via closed circuit television the day before -- remained silent throughout the hearing and exited through a side door in the courtroom.

Outside the courthouse, a family friend of Dorian reportedly punched an NBC 5 photographer who was part of the scrum attempting to catch up with Dorian. The friend, whose name was not immediately available, was arrested by Joliet police. The photographer reportedly decided not to press charges.

Diane Dorian, Brian Dorian's mother, shed a few tears as she walked with family and friends to the nearby law office where her son was waiting with attorneys.

"Get him before he does this again," she said, referring to the unknown killer on the loose.

With Dorian cleared, the search continues for the shooter who approached a home undergoing construction near Beecher. The man engaged the workers in conversation and opened fire, killing Alonso and seriously injuring Josh Garza, 19, of Dyer. Garza remains hospitalized.

Investigators said the gunman then drove to 201st and Cline avenues, south of Lowell, where he shot farmer Keith Dahl, 64, multiple times. Dahl was released from a local hospital Friday.

A Lake County detective and Schererville police officer pulled over Dorian within an hour of the Lowell shooting, Lake County Police Chief Marco Kuyachich said Wednesday. Dorian's truck matched the description of the vehicle mentioned in an all-points bulletin.

Dorian was stopped and asked for information, Kuyachich said. Dorian identified himself as a police officer and was released because police did not have enough information to hold him, Kuyachich said.

He said the detective and officer were intelligence gathering.

Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas said Tuesday that when his investigators learned about the stop, they talked with the police involved in the stop, and "an officer" identified Dorian in connection with the initial composite sketch.

After the hearing Wednesday, the family holed up in Dorian's attorney's office for more than 90 minutes before attorneys led Dorian and his entourage to an awaiting SUV.

Defense attorney Dave Carlson said he believed the Will County sheriff's office did its job in investigating Dorian as a suspect. However, he also chastised police and the state's attorney's office for spending four days worth of resources, money and time on his client.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow late Tuesday announced that in light of exculpatory evidence, his office would drop the charge. He said that evidence included computer records that showed Dorian was using his computer at the time of the shootings. Citing ballistics tests that link the two shootings, Glasgow said, "It would have been physically impossible for (Dorian) to commit the crime."

Carlson said there were other portions of Dorian's alibi that Glasgow and Kaupas did not address during their Tuesday night announcement, namely a shopping receipt, cell phone records and a witness, all of which corroborated what Dorian told police in the hours after he was arrested. Carlson said it was only after he and other defense attorneys sat down early Tuesday with a pair of veteran prosecutors to review the case that the computer evidence surfaced.

At one point, Dorian was able to recall the websites he visited while online the morning of the shootings.

When asked what those sites were, Carlson said, "Clearly Brian knew, and they knew. We don't know, but it must have been right because he's out.

"From the beginning, they only had it in their minds that Brian Dorian did this," Carlson said. "Then they spent all weekend trying to fit the pieces in a puzzle that didn't fit."

Carlson praised Lake County law enforcement officials for not rushing to judgment on their portion of the two-state investigation.

He would not comment on any potential civil litigation.

When asked about Dorian's time in jail, Carlson said, "Thirteen years of his life have been spent upholding the law. Now he has been wrongly accused. ... This is just tearing him up. It was his worst nightmare."

Lynwood police Sgt. Tim Smith spoke briefly to reporters Wednesday morning in Joliet and later outside Benny's Place in Lynwood, where Dorian's supporters were celebrating his freedom.

"It's Christmas, but it's a dark Christmas because (the killer) is still out there," Smith said early Wednesday.

Smith became emotional when describing his reunion with Dorian, whom he trained and supervised. "He saw me, said, ‘Thank you, man,' hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Thank you.'"

Times staff writers Marisa Kwiatkowski and Pete Nickeas contributed to this report.