Defendant missing, but trial will go on
More than five years after a wealthy Naperville couple was assaulted in their home, a man who fled while free on bond will be tried in absentia for the crime.
Jury selection begins May 19 in the trial of Miguel Pineda of Chicago, who faces up to 60 years in prison.
DuPage Associate Judge Mark Dwyer set the trial date Monday while Pineda, 33, remains at large. The judge issued an arrest warrant after Pineda failed to show up for court Dec. 14.
Pineda and three other assailants are accused of forcing their way into the couple's home on River Bluff Court on Nov. 11, 2002.
Police said the men tied up the couple and, during the next three hours, threatened their lives and tortured the husband while poking him with a carving knife and beating him with a blackjack.
The men fled in the couple's 2001 Cadillac Seville with up to $500,000 worth of jewelry, cash, collectible stamps, coins and an estimated 100 guns, police said. The wife eventually untied herself and called 911.
Hours later, police found the car abandoned at the border of Berwyn and Cicero.
Detectives interviewed dozens of people connected to the victim because they suspected the thieves targeted the man, an avid collector.
One of the assailants left behind a good clue. Prosecutor Steven Knight said authorities obtained DNA evidence from saliva on a soda can at the crime scene. Detectives developed Pineda as a suspect and, after getting his DNA sample, found it matched the DNA profile left on the soda can.
Federal marshals and Naperville police arrested Pineda March 4, 2005, at his apartment in Chicago. Pineda broke his leg while trying to escape by jumping from a window. He implicated the homeowner's secretary.
The woman, Carla S. Zamora, who lived in the victim's trailer park properties at 800 Hill St. in Aurora, denied knowing the perpetrators of the home invasion.
Authorities said, however, they found her phone number while scouring another suspect's telephone bill receipts. She was arrested April 6, 2005, on obstruction of justice charges for lying to police. Zamora, 30, later pleaded guilty and received probation and community service.
Pineda posted $100,000 cash Dec. 13, 2005, and was set free to await trial. For two years, he made it to monthly court dates, but he hasn't been seen since late last year. He is charged with home invasion, armed robbery, theft, burglary, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint.
Another man, Victor M. Rodriguez, 34, of Chicago, also has been charged. Police, though, haven't been able to locate him. Authorities said his brother dated Zamora. The other two assailants were never identified.