$1.5 million bail for man charged with stalking relative

Mental health and fitness issues may factor into the case of a Colorado man ordered held on a total bail of $1.5 million Tuesday after authorities say he sent numerous threatening and obscene text messages to a female relative.

Steven Karavidas, 44, of Parshall Colorado, accused the woman and a male relative of mismanaging the family business, said prosecutors, who claim Karavidas texted the woman 106 times between Oct. 14, 2013 and Jan. 30, 2014.

The woman told prosecutors that Karavidas suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and has been hospitalized for psychiatric disorders.

She reported the messages, in which Karavidas refers to weapons he possesses, to Arlington Heights police in November, 2013, but asked they not contact Karavidas because she feared for her safety, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Maria McCarthy.

Three months later, in February 2014, police obtained a misdemeanor arrest warrant on charges of harassment using electronic communication against Karavidas, who prosecutors say was living in Colorado at the time.

The texting continued until January of this year, McCarthy said.

Beginning Feb. 14, Karavidas made phone calls to Arlington Heights police in which he stated he intended to “put bullets in” the relatives' heads, McCarthy said. That same day, he called Woodstock police and informed the dispatcher he was “coming to town to kill (the relatives).”

On Feb. 23, someone who identified himself as Karavidas left a message on the Daily Herald's news tip line stating “I will be on my way to town. I will be killing two people,” McCarthy said.

Following the issuance of a nationwide arrest warrant, Grand County Colorado Sheriff's police executed a search warrant at the defendant's home, where they found him and recovered from him a fully loaded .22 revolver and 26 bullets. In his home they found a hunting rifle with a scope loaded with three rounds and another 23 more rounds on a dresser, McCarthy said.

Colorado authorities arrested Karavidas on a weapons charge. While in custody, he reportedly struck or pushed another inmate and was charged with felony menacing, McCarthy said.

After he made bail on that case, authorities extradited him to Illinois.

Karavidas' criminal background includes two years probation following a 2013 conviction for threatening a public official in McHenry. He received two years probation for weapons possession in 2012 and two years probation and community service for disorderly conduct and filing a false report after he called the McHenry County Sheriff's Department to tell them he was “going to his ex-wife's home with lots of guns,” prosecutors said.

Karavidas' misdemeanor convictions date back to 1997 and include telephone harassment, marijuana possession, resisting police, reckless driving and violating an order of protection, prosecutors said.

Judge Joel Greenblatt ordered Karavidas surrender his passport and submit to electronic monitoring if he posts bail.

He next appears in court on May 7.