On October 1st, 2011, Lamar Coates, Brandon Sago, Desmond Bellmon and Lil Mike Sago were allegedly involved in an attempted robbery at Marie’s Pizza in Rockford, Illinois.
Lamar Coates is the only one who had a gun.
The entire incident lasted a total of 36 seconds.
It was reported that Lamar entered first with the gun followed by Desmond and Brandon. Lil Mike entered, but stayed by the door.
In the pizzeria that night was Vincenzo Tarara (the restaurant manager) David Weidner (the delivery driver) and Andres Briceno (the cook) and Frank Pobjecky.
The story has changed several times as to why Pobjecky, an off-duty Winnebago County Sheriff, was there. There were initially reports saying Pobjecky was there just picking up a pizza for his family. Then, it was learned that prior to shooting, Pobjecky was not in the lobby like a normal customer but in the break room with employees.
Pobjecky finally settled on he was simply there watching the fights with his childhood friend Tarara. Though this was the official stance, there have been allegations made by community members questioning exactly what was Pobjecky’s official, or unofficial role at Marie’s pizza.
When Coates entered Marie’s with the gun visible, Tarara rushed him immediately and struggle ensued. At that point the other workers exited the break room and joined the struggle. Pobjecky grabbed Tarara’s personal gun from his side.
At some point after obtaining the gun from Tarara, Pobjecky shot Desmond Bellmon in the back as Desmond tried to run for the door.
When Tarara took the gun, Lamar Coates turned and ran for the door. Pobjecky shot him in the back.
Seconds later, Brandon Sago made a run for the door when he was shot in the back by Pobjecky.
After Brandon was shot, there was a few seconds of silence. Desmond managed to escape while Pobjecky fired at him.
Lil Mike Sago, who for the majority of the 36 seconds stood by the doors, who never joined in on any struggle, who never touched or even reached for a gun, who was crawling on his stomach heading for the door, who was a 16-year-old Auburn High School student, the younger brother to Lamar and cousin to Brandon, was shot three times while crawling on his stomach towards the door.
After these deadly 36 seconds that resulted in four young men all being shot in the back as they ran away from the scene, Pobjecky and all the employees waited seven minutes to call 911. None of them provided any aid.
Paramedics alleged Lil Mike could have survived if they were able to get to the scene sooner.
Following the shooting, Lamar Coates and Brandon Sago were sentenced 30 years for the death of Lil Mike Sago. Desmond Bellmon was sentenced to twenty years.
Pobjecky was awarded for shooting four unarmed black men in the back. He has repeatedly attempted to run for public office getting endorsements from local officials:
Winnebago county board member Burt Gurl
Rockford Alderpersons Chad Tuneberg and Tim Durkee
Senator Dave Syverson
He has lost every election.
If everything happened today exactly as how it happened in 2011, Lamar Coates, Brandon Sago, and Desmond Bellmon could not be charged for the murder of Lil Mike Sago. Their respective sentences would be significantly shorter.
May Lil Mike Sago Rest in Power.
Free Lamar Coates!
Free Brandon Sago!
Free Desmond Bellmon!
This was the second case investigated and justified by the Winnebago Boone County Integrity Task Force and the third deadly force incident by police in Winnebago County in the 2010’s.