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West Chicago man accused of carjacking half-hour after release on another charge

A West Chicago man is accused of carjacking a motorist at knife point, less than a half-hour after he had been released on a no-money bond on another criminal charge.

DuPage County Judge Alex McGimpsey set bail at $300,000 Thursday for Moises Patino-Romero, 25, of the 100 block of East Geneva Street. To be released from jail, he will have to pay at least $30,000.

Patino-Romero faces two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, a Class X felony punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison.

According to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, Patino-Romero was released from custody at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday on a personal-recognizance bond on a case where he was charged with criminal trespass to a residence.

Court records indicate he was charged with trespassing at 8:10 a.m. Tuesday at a house on the 700 block of Lincoln Avenue, where a man was charged with slaying another man in a domestic dispute on March 21.

At 12:08 p.m. Tuesday, authorities say, he entered an unlocked vehicle outside a store in West Chicago. The victim, who was talking on a cellphone, did not notice Patino-Romero until he was driving away from the store. Patino-Romero rose from the back seat, reached around and held a knife in front of the 62-year-old man's face, telling him to call the person back.

The victim jumped out of the car, ran off and called police from another phone. He was not injured.

The trespassing charge has been upgraded to residential burglary.

Patino-Romero is due to be arraigned April 27 in front of Judge George Bakalis.

"The allegations against Mr. Patino-Romero are outrageous," DuPage State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. "This type of violent behavior, particularly in consideration of the current stay-at-home order, will not be tolerated in DuPage County and will be met with the full force of the law. What I find particularly troubling is the fact that Mr. Patino-Romero was just released from custody less than half an hour before he allegedly committed this crime."

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