A Palatine man who committed what Lake County’s chief prosecutor called a “brutal and calculated attack” on a woman he previously dated was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison.
Ryan Storm, 21, entered a guilty plea in a 2021 attack on the woman, which took place at a Lake Barrington-area business where Storm worked.
In the negotiated plea, Storm pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated kidnapping. He was sentenced to consecutive prison terms totaling 28 years.
State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Thursday he was happy the case was “resolved in a way that honors the survivor’s strength and keeps the community safe for decades.”
“This was a brutal and calculated attack that needed to be answered with a long prison sentence,” he said. “Our team has stayed in contact with the survivor, included her in the plea negotiations, and we will continue to support her in any way.”
Authorities said Storm and the woman, who was 20, met at a Palatine parking lot on the night of May 17, 2021, to talk, but Storm forced the woman into his car and drove off.
After the woman tried to grab the steering wheel, Storm stopped the car and choked her into unconsciousness, authorities said in May. The woman awoke at the business where Storm worked. He allegedly assaulted her as she was bound to a forklift.
He fled from the business at about 2 a.m. after hearing police outside. Officers came to the business after getting a call from someone who knew Storm and reported an unusual conversation with him, police said.
Storm was arrested hours later when an officer saw him near Fox River Grove. He has been held in lieu of $3 million bail in the Lake County jail since then.
