Authorities say a man, accused of burglarizing homes across the country, burglarized a high-end home in Long Grove and stole more than $100,000 worth of valuables.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded on March 27, 2022, to the 4700 block of Wellington Drive in Long Grove in the Royal Melbourne subdivision for a residential burglary.
The victim returned home after being out of town and found somebody forced entry into his home through a window, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The home was ransacked and a significant amount of valuables were stolen in excess of $100,000.
Sheriff’s evidence technicians responded to the scene and conducted a methodical search of the crime scene, Covelli said.
Evidence technicians found small amounts of blood likely caused by the offender cutting himself on the broken window.
Evidence technicians collected the blood and sent it to the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory for analysis.
Detectives received information in August 2022 from the crime lab that the blood, which was run through the national DNA database, belonged to Diego H. E. Reyes Bahamondes, 33, of Nashville, Tennessee.
Reyes Bahamondes was identified as the suspect in a number of residential burglaries across affluent communities in Lake County and the United States, Covelli said.
Reyes Bahamondes was found to be already jailed in Tennessee for similar crimes.
Sheriff’s detectives on Thursday presented the case to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, which approved the charges of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony, and theft over $100,000, a Class 1 felony.
A Lake County Judge approved and signed an arrest warrant for Reyes Bahamondes.
Reyes Bahamondes remains held in Davidson County, Tennessee, pending extradition to Illinois. He has additional outstanding arrest warrants for residential burglary in several other states as well.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in Tennessee arrested Reyes Bahamondes, who is also known as Juan Gutierrez, in September 2022.
Nashville detectives, working a joint investigation with the Brentwood Police Department, arrested Reyes Bahamondes and three others shortly after they burglarized a Forest Hills, Tennessee home and stole more than $200,000 in jewelry and cash.
The four suspects, who are believed to be from Chile, refused to be interviewed, Nashville police said.
The investigation showed that the four used a rental SUV to arrive and flee from the burglary scene.
Surveillance of the SUV led officers to a hotel where the vehicle was blocked in by law enforcement and the four men were arrested, police said.