Authorities: Mistaken identity may have prompted Wheeling home invasion

Authorities say a case of mistaken identity may have led to a Wheeling home invasion and attack on a 34-year-old woman.

Guillermo Mora-Flores, 39, is charged with home invasion after prosecutors say he entered the woman's unlocked home the morning of May 31, grabbed her around the throat and struck her. Because he was on probation for a 2015 misdemeanor battery, Mora-Flores was ordered held without bail.

The homeowner left to walk her daughter to school about 9 a.m. that day and returned home a short time later to catch an Uber to work, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Katherine Bird said.

The woman entered her bathroom and was confronted by the defendant, who grabbed her neck, threw her into the bathtub and struck her while saying she was "going to pay," Bird said.

Mora-Flores then kicked the woman in the face, causing her to black out, Bird said.

About that time, the Uber driver arrived and parked behind the defendant's green Ford Escape, according to reports. The driver watched Mora-Flores enter his vehicle and leave, Bird said.

The woman regained consciousness and called police. She described her assailant to officers and the driver described the car, which police learned was registered to one of Mora-Flores' family members, Bird said. Both identified the defendant in a photo lineup, Bird said.

A video surveillance camera at a neighbor's house showed Mora-Flores driving to the woman's house in his green Escape the day of the attack, reports said. Cameras also show the Uber driver approach the house and the defendant "walking and then running away" from the home, Bird said.

The woman, who does not know the defendant, suffered bruising and swelling to her eyes, neck and back, as well as lacerations on her arms and hands.

Prosecutors say Mora-Flores told police he saw the woman leave her home a few days earlier and believed she lodged a complaint against him several years earlier. Prosecutors say the Wheeling woman is not the same person involved in a 2015 misdemeanor battery for which Mora-Flores was sentenced to two years probation.

In addition to four misdemeanors, Mora-Flores has a felony residential burglary conviction from 2010. He next appears in court June 12.