A judge denied pre-trial release for a suspect who prosecutors say followed a random woman from a bar in Waukegan and kidnapped her in Wadsworth during a flat tire ploy.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call around 2:10 a.m. on February 25 from a witness who reported her friend had just been kidnapped by an unknown male.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriffโs dispatchers obtained valuable information and provided it to responding deputies.
Deputies arrived and learned the witness and the victim, a 22-year-old woman from Whitewater, Wisconsin, had left Ibiza bar in Waukegan.
The two were driving home when a man, later identified as Jonatan Luna-Carrasco, 28, of North Chicago, pulled alongside them as they traveled on Route 41 in the area of Hanssen Road in Wadsworth, Covelli said.
Luna-Carrasco allegedly told them they had a flat tire so the two women pulled over.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Daly said that no warning light was seen on the dashboard when the woman pulled over but she began hearing air deflating from the tire once Luna-Carrasco began to look at the tire.
Covelli said that Luna-Carrasco told the two he would assist in changing the flat tire and encouraged the victim, who was intoxicated, to stay warm inside his car.
Luna-Carrasco began to work on the tire but said he needed to get his gloves from his car, Daly said. He offered to turn on the heat in the car for the victim as she sat inside.
Luna-Carrasco then fled with the woman against her will, Covelli said. The friend immediately called 911 and provided a description of the suspect vehicle, a gray Dodge Durango.
The victim was able to jump out of the car in the 3500 block of Highland Avenue in Gurnee and run to a home to ask for help.
The Gurnee Police Department responded and aided the victim until sheriffโs deputies arrived.
Surveillance video showed the victim going from house to house and also captured the Dodge driving up and down the street six times, 30 minutes before police located the victim.
Sheriffโs detectives believe Luna-Carrasco was attempting to take the victim to an unknown location, Covelli said.
“It is not clear what his intentions were once he arrived there with the victim, however, the victim indicated Luna-Carrasco made sexually suggestive comments after kidnapping her,” Covelli said.
Dispatchers and sheriffโs deputies at the scene used Flock Camera technology and located the Dodge.
Detectives furthered the investigation and identified Luna-Carrasco as the suspect responsible for kidnapping the victim, Covelli said.
Daly said the Dodge was spotted near Washington Street and Green Bay Road in Waukegan before the kidnapping around the time the two women left the bar.
The vehicle was also detected near Ibiza bar two hours prior to them leaving the bar. Cell phone data also placed Luna-Carrasco near the bar and near the kidnapping.
The camera system captured Luna-Carrasco’s Dodge at other locations, including once where it was seen behind the victim’s car.
Daly said it is suspected that Luna-Carrasco intentionally let the air out of the woman’s tire as no damage was noted to the tire when it was taken to a repair shop.
Daly said a second kidnapping investigation remains ongoing involving similar circumstances where another woman was also kidnapped after leaving Ibiza bar.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Luna-Carrasco for two counts of kidnapping on March 22 for the Wadsworth kidnapping. He has not been charged in the second kidnapping yet.
Luna-Carrasco was arrested last weekend in Waukegan. He appeared earlier this week for a detention hearing after the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him.
A public defender for Luna-Carrasco said his client is a single father of three and works as a forklift operator in Waukegan.
The attorney said Luna-Carrasco was at the scene in Wadsworth and was with his three daughters, one of whom pointed out that the victim’s vehicle had a flat tire.
Luna-Carrasco got nervous while helping with the car and thought one of the women was going to pull out a gun, which led to him driving off with the victim in the car, the public defender said.
Daly disputed the account that Luna-Carrasco’s children were in the car with him at the time, saying that the women did not report seeing anyone else inside his car.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted the state’s petition and remanded Luna-Carrasco to the Lake County Jail pending trial. The judge called the incident premeditated and calculated.
Anyone who has been victimized by Luna-Carrasco or has additional information is asked to contact the Lake County Sheriffโs Office Criminal Investigations Division at 847-377-4000.
“This is another example of excellent police work by everyone involved, from our sheriffโs telecommunicators to our deputies who responded, to our detectives who put in an extensive amount of investigative work,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said after the man’s arrest was announced.
“Additionally, we were able to leverage Flock camera technology to help us further our investigation, which played a large role in identifying the offender in this case,” Idleburg said.