Lake Zurich man accused of stalking, threatening woman

A Lake Zurich man who prosecutors say stalked a woman for more than a year and twice threatened to harm her was ordered held on $750,000 bail Friday.

Prosecutors said Dimitrios Sarantopoulos, 70, began showing up at the woman's apartment complex in 2015, around the same time she began finding flowers, magazines and other items on her car, at home and at the restaurant where she worked, which is owned by Sarantopoulos' family. He also began making inappropriate sexual comments, said Cook County assistant state's attorney Maria McCarthy.

In December, Sarantopoulos asked the woman to have a drink and threatened to cut her throat when she declined, McCarthy said. That same month, the woman found Xs scratched on her car, McCarthy said.

The woman returned to Illinois in March, after several months away, McCarthy said. In April, according to McCarthy, Sarantopoulos approached the woman with a spray bottle he said contained acid and threatened to burn her face.

McCarthy said the woman installed a video camera on her car in May and recorded Sarantopoulos placing items on her car and damaging the car. The behavior continued even after the woman quit her job in May, McCarthy added.

Defense attorney Mitchell Asher insisted the charges are an aberration. He said his client suffers from dementia, diabetes and heart disease and is scheduled to undergo a brain scan within the next few weeks.

"This is a man who is more mentally ill and physically ill than anything else," said Asher.

If Sarantopoulos posts bail, Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo ordered he be placed on house arrest and a GPS monitor. Cataldo also ordered him to surrender his passport, any weapons in his possession and refrain from contacting the woman.

If convicted, Sarantopoulos faces up to three years in prison. Probation is also an option. He next appears in court on June 24.