From the State’s Attorney:
COURT GRANTS STATE’S ATTORNEY’S OFFICE’S PETITION TO DETAIN MAN CHARGED WITH DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE AFTER A PREVIOUS CONVICTION FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE CAUSING DEATH OF TWO PEOPLE
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese announced today that the Honorable Judge Mark Gerhardt granted the State’s motion to deny pretrial release for Igors Kazakovs, 42, of Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Evidence presented in court this morning established that on November 9, 2025, members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the area of S. River Road and Charles J. Miller Road in response to a two-vehicle accident.
Upon arrival, deputies determined that a Ford Edge driven by Igors Kazakovs rear-ended another vehicle that was stopped at a red light.
Deputies met with Kazakovs and noticed that he had slurred speech and an odor of alcohol on his person.
Kazakovs admitted to drinking earlier in the day.
Kazakovs was arrested after submitting to standardized field sobriety tests.
Inside Kazakovs’s car, deputies found several mini bottles of liquor. Kazakovs was taken to the McHenry Sheriff’s Department, where he provided a breath test with a result of a 0.191 blood alcohol concentration.
Kazakovs has twice been convicted of Driving Under the Influence.
In 2005, on New Year’s Day, Kazakovs, while intoxicated, hit a taxicab, killing the driver and passenger.
Kazakovs was sentenced to sixteen years in the Department of Corrections for that offense.
Kazakovs’s driver’s license was still revoked from the fatal accident when the most recent accident occurred.
Kazakovs was initially charged with a misdemeanor offense of Driving Under the Influence on November 9, 2025, and was released that afternoon.
Prior to his first court appearance on December 3, 2025, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed Kazakovs’s criminal history and learned of his past offenses.
Prosecutors immediately filed felony charges and petitioned to detain Kazakovs, arguing that he was a danger to the community.
State’s Attorney Freese is thankful that another tragedy was avoided in the most recent accident, while noting that Kazakov’s story demonstrates the need for aggressive prosecution of those who selfishly endanger others by driving under the influence of any intoxicating substance.
Kazakovs’ next court appearance is scheduled for December 22, 2025.
Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt.
A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
