Three Chicago men allegedly burglarized a house in Highland Park and stole over $15,000 worth of watches and cash from the residents while completing remodeling work on the home.
The Highland Park Police Department responded around 3:45 p.m. on June 9 to a residence in the 1200 block of Linden Avenue for a report of a theft committed by contractors.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Shanley-Roberts said he victims told officers that a company called Ted Widen’s Painting was remodeling their upstairs bathroom using contractors and subcontractors.
The male homeowner was at home working in the living room while subcontractors were doing demolition upstairs.
The three workers abruptly left the house carrying black trash bags around 3:30 p.m., Shanley-Roberts said.
The homeowner went upstairs and discovered that only half of the demolition was complete.
He looked at his dresser and discovered that six watches and $2,000 cash were missing.
The wife arrived home from work and found that two of her watches were also missing.
The total value of the property stolen was approximately $15,400, Shanley-Roberts said.
The owner of the company arrived at the scene and reported that his foreman had hired a series of subcontractors to perform the work.
The homeowner contacted the foreman who said he would try to contact the subcontractors.
The foreman said he spoke with one of the men, Jose, who said he did not steal anything and claimed he was on the way back to the home to help identify the suspects. He never returned to the scene, Shanley-Roberts said.
The homeowner said the workers arrived around 8 a.m. at the home in two cars, a gold Volkswagen Jetta and a white Ford Explorer.
A Ring camera captured the workers coming and going and captured the license plates.
Detectives worked to identify the workers captured on Ring video, Shanley-Roberts said.
With the assistance of the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC), they provided a possible match using facial recognition to a subject previously arrested by the Chicago Police Department.
That person was identified as Michael Jose Simoza-Diaz, 25, of Chicago, and he was a confirmed match based on tattoos and other features, Shanley-Roberts said.
Shanley-Roberts said the second offender involved was identified as Yorge L. Montilla-Molina, 20, of Chicago, who was the registered owner of the Volkswagen.
The third offender involved was not immediately identified but has since been identified as Wuillder R. Mejicano Hernandez, 31, of Chicago.
The foreman told detectives he was tasked with performing the demo work in the home and hired Montilla-Molina, who then hired Simoza-Diaz and Hernandez.
The foreman met with Montilla-Molina and the two other workers at the residence on the day of the incident and showed them what work needed to be done. The foreman then left for another job site, leaving the three to complete the job, Shanley-Roberts said.
Simoza-Diaz later told the foreman in text messages that he did not “want any issues with the law.”
“I went there to work and not take anything from anyone. I don’t want them to deport me. I don’t want any problems,” Simoza-Diaz said. Detectives believe he was the ringleader, Shanley-Roberts said.
Montilla-Molina, Simoza-Diaz and Hernandez were indicted by a Lake County grand jury last week on charges of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony, and theft, a Class 3 felony.
Montilla-Molina and Simoza-Diaz were taken into custody after arrest warrants were issued.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed petitions to detain both of them but Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim denied the petitions and allowed them to be released following detention hearings.
The judge said he did not believe that prosecutors met their burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the two stole the property.
An arrest warrant remains active for Hernandez. Montilla-Molina and Simoza-Diaz are scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday for an arraignment hearing.