"Potatoe" now charged with 6 felonies

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
September 13, 2012

Daniel ("Potatoe") Huber, 21, is now charged with six felonies in connection with the crash on July 1 that killed two Woodstock 16-year-old boys. Alec Kaiser and Jacob Norys died in a 2:00AM crash, apparently during a drag race with Huber.

Huber was not immediately identified, nor was a speed contest initially identified as a contributory cause of the crash.

In addition to the original charges against Huber (Failure to report an accident involving a death and Aggravated Street Racing), Huber, identified in Kaiser's cell phone as "Potatoe", is now also charged with, according to Circuit Court records, additional (or superseding) charges of Failure to report an accident involving a death and Aggravated Street Racing, and two counts of Obstruction of Justice by destruction of evidence.

A driver nearby telephoned the sheriff's department to report a crash, drove past but didn't get out, and left before a deputy arrived. That person gave a name other than Huber and was later interviewed by a deputy.

According to previous news articles, Huber was in the vicinity, but news accounts were not specific about whether Huber was behind Kaiser or in front of him at the time of the crash on Davis Road. Kaiser was driving a vehicle owned by the Norys family. Families of both boys did not know the boys were not at home, and the car had been taken without permission. Neither boy had a driver's license that was valid on a Sunday at 2:00AM.

A Woodstock police officer reportedly asked Kaiser and Norys if they were old enough to smoke, during a contact at the Mobil station on South Route 47 just minutes before the crash. The Woodstock Police Department denies having any documentation of such a contact.

Absence of any documentation seems absolutely impossible to me. If this contact occurred, Chief Lowen should require a written report from the officer, who supposedly was driving one of Woodstock PD's unmarked squad cars. On the one hand, I can understand the City's denying a FOIA request, but the City has denied having any documentation.

They'd better get it, because the City is going to get dragged into a lawsuit. Had the officer required identification, he would have determined that there was no legal driver for the vehicle, and he would have called the vehicle's owner to come and get his car and drive the boys home.

Huber's next court date with Judge Prather is Tuesday, September 18, 9:00AM. Courtroom 304. Huber is represented by the McHenry County Public Defender's office.