Man found guilty of kidnapping woman in Bloomingdale, robbing and raping her
A former DuPage County man has been found guilty of kidnapping a woman from the parking lot of a Bloomingdale shopping center, robbing her and raping her.
A DuPage jury found Justin Dalcollo, 37, now of Kentucky, guilty Monday night of one count of aggravated kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. The trial last five days.
Dalcollo was accused of attacking a 21-year-old college student March 22, 2019, as she was in the parking lot of the Bloomingdale Court Mall on Army Trail Road.
Authorities alleged that Dalcollo, already a convicted sex offender, stole a gun in Ohio several days before the attack, took a bus to Chicago, then attacked the woman as she walked to her car.
He forced his way in to her car at gunpoint and ordered the woman to drive to a Glendale Heights bank and withdraw $300. He made her drive around Hanover Park and Bartlett, then to the Grand Victoria Casino in downtown Elgin.
Once there, he ordered her to park between two cars in the casino's garage, then sexually assaulted her.
After that, he ordered her to drive him to a convenience store in downtown Elgin and accompany him inside, where he purchased chewing tobacco.
Dalcollo used the stolen money to take a cab from the Elgin train station to a Target store in the South Loop in Chicago. The DuPage Major Crimes Task Force and Chicago police arrested him near the store the next day.
"The jury's verdict in this case confirms what we have been known all along, that Justin Dalcollo abducted, sexually assaulted and robbed at gunpoint an innocent young woman who had returned home from school to enjoy spring break with family and friends," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. "But instead of enjoying her time at home, the victim was terrorized, physically and emotionally, by Mr. Dalcollo."
Berlin praised the woman for "the incredible strength and courage she showed in facing her attacker in open court."
Dalcollo is a Glenbard North High School graduate and had ties to Glendale Heights and Bloomingdale.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty in Ohio to fourth-degree sexual conduct and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to failure to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to probation but violated that and was imprisoned. He was on parole at the time of the Bloomingdale attack and was supposed to be wearing a GPS monitor, according to authorities.
Dalcollo pleaded guilty in September 2020 to one count of armed robbery and one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault and was told by Judge Ann Celine O'Hallaren Walsh he could be sentenced to up to 75 years in prison.
But a month later he was allowed to withdraw his plea, saying he didn't fully understand the consequences of pleading guilty or the warning Walsh gave him about the consequences.
He also argued that he tried to tell Walsh he wasn't satisfied with the performance of his lawyer but that Walsh refused to listen to him.
Walsh allowed Dalcollo to represent himself at the trial.
The case was prosecuted by DuPage Assistant State's Attorneys Jim Scalatiane and Jaclyn McAndrews and Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Lori Schmidt.
Dalcollo could be sentenced to as many as 135 years in prison.