Lake Co. home invasion suspect wants confessions tossed
The attorney for a 19-year-old Antioch man charged in a pair of home invasions has filed a motion seeking to bar the man's confessions to the crimes from being used against him.
Miguel Rico, of the 1100 block of McKenzie Road, faces up to 120 years in prison if convicted of multiple counts of home invasion, armed robbery, armed violence, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Rico is charged with breaking into a Lake Villa home on the 800 block of Longwood Drive on Sept. 1 where a 20-year-old resident was confronted with a knife and bound in duct tape.
On Sept. 8, police say, Rico broke into an Antioch Township house, threatened a man, woman and teenager with a gun, and sexually assaulted the teen.
Rico was arrested later in the same day of the Antioch Township attack. He was driving a car stolen in the home invasion and was outside an abandoned house in Round Lake Beach that was filled with property taken in both crimes, police said.
Defense attorney James Schwarzbach claims in his motion that Rico, a high-school dropout, was unprepared to face the rigors of police questioning after his arrest.
Schwarzbach says in the motion that Rico had never been questioned by police as an adult, although he had been questioned as a juvenile on a few occasions.
Rico was left in a room for 13 hours while he was periodically questioned by police from Lake Villa and the Lake County sheriff's office, Schwarzbach's motion claims.
The motion seeks to have Rico's statements admitting both offenses barred from being used against him at trial.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert declined to comment on the motion in advance of a hearing.
Circuit Judge James Booras ordered the parties to return to court Aug. 3 to schedule a hearing date.
Rico is held in the Lake County jail on $2.5 million bond.