Danny Rios' Killing: Joliet Murder Defendant Won't Have A Lawyer

JOLIET, IL — The case of Joliet first-degree murder defendant Patrick Gleason has moved slowly in Will County Judge Dan Rippy's Courtroom during these past four-and-a-half years since the March 2018 shooting death of Izzy's bartender Danny Rios, 52.

In recent weeks, there's been an important development: Rippy has allowed Gleason to fire his private defense counsel, Chuck Bretz, and serve as his own lawyer for his murder case, which has yet to go to trial. Gleason and Bretz had a stormy working relationship since 2019, and Joliet Patch has previously reported on Gleason's efforts to fire Bretz, only to be denied by the judge.

But things are different now. Starting this month, Gleason is serving as his own legal counsel. His next court hearing is set for early September.

Several lawyers familiar with the Izzy's Bar slaying have told Patch that the killing was captured on video surveillance cameras from inside Izzy's Bar and that Gleason, who entered the Theodore Street bar wearing a mask over his head, is the shooter.

After Rios was killed, the bar owner's son was shot in the stomach and one of the bar's patrons was shot at during the struggle with Gleason to gain control of the gun, Joliet Patch reported in 2018.

The killing of Rios happened around 1:15 a.m.

In March 2020, Joliet Patch ran the following headline: "Izzy's Murder Defendant Still Wants Bretz Removed." From his cell at the Will County Jail, Gleason wrote Judge Rippy a letter stating, "The defendant requests a short continuance and wishes to obtain new counsel due to a conflict of interest with present counsel and requests this court to relieve the defendant's present counsel, Mr. Chuck Bretz, of further representation."

Then, on May 7, 2021, Gleason, acting on his own without the support or advice of Bretz, filed a federal lawsuit against Joliet police claiming they framed him for the Izzy's Bar murder.

"I am suing the Joliet Police Department for illegal arrest, defamation of character, fraud, tampering with evidence at the murder scene including video surveillance and re-enacting a murder scene to convict, excessive force causing severe trauma to both the face and head and brain damage," Gleason wrote in his federal lawsuit. "According to Joliet Police, I was found on the floor at Izzy's Bar with a bloodied face and walked out of Izzy's Bar when I supposed to be in critical condition, with three police officers shown to be arresting me on video while I was supposed to be in critical condition."

At the time of the killing, Gleason lived in the 1600 block of Dearborn Street, which is only a couple blocks away from Izzy's Bar.

In 2018, the Office of Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow filed 10 felony charges against Gleason. The Crest Hill resident was charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the death of Rios. Gleason also faces three counts of attempted murder in the shooting of Thomas Izquierdo, the son of the bar's owner.

Lastly, Gleason faces two additional charges, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a gun. Prosecutors say Gleason fired his loaded gun at one of the bar patrons, Artis Henderson, while inside of Izzy's.