Sheriff: Suspects in robbery, beating of teen in Long Grove captured
Three suspects are in custody in connection with the Jan. 25 beating and robbery of a teenage girl from Arlington Heights in a secluded area of Long Grove, Lake County Sheriff's police said Monday.
Jovanni Mora, 21, Neslye Y. Palacios-Flores, 23, and Juan A. Colon, 24, all of the 400 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Waukegan, face charges of aggravated battery, robbery and unlawful restraint stemming from the alleged holdup, authorities say.
According to the sheriff's office, the suspects met the 18-year-old victim during a party at a Mundelein hotel. After she was involved in an argument at the party, the Arlington Heights teen asked the suspects for a ride home, authorities say.
During the ride, sheriff's police said, the driver pulled over in a secluded area near Arlington Heights Road and Checker Road in Long Grove, where the teen was forced out of the car, punched and kicked in the head and body, and robbed.
Authorities say the teen was then pushed back into the vehicle, but a short distance later it slid off the road and into a ditch. When Colon and Mora got out to push the vehicle from the ditch, the teen was able to escape and flag down a passing driver for help, sheriff's police said.
The teen sought medical treatment following the attack, authorities said.
After an investigation, sheriff's detectives obtained arrest warrants for the suspects on Feb. 26. On Friday, the sheriff's Warrants Team and the U.S. Marshals Service - Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force captured the suspects at their shared apartment in Waukegan.
A 15-year-old boy inside the home was arrested on an unrelated juvenile warrant.
Palacios-Flores is being held in the Lake County jail on $50,000 bail and is due in court Wednesday. Mora is being held at the jail on $100,000 bail, pending a March 25 court date. Colon is in custody on $125,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court later Monday.
Sheriff's police said Colon and Mora are documented street gang members.
If convicted of robbery, they face a maximum sentence of four to 15 years in prison.