A man wanted for sexual assault of a child led police officers on a pursuit where he ran multiple stop signs in Round Lake Beach before later being taken into custody.
Rigoberto Tapia, 41, of Waukegan, was charged with aggravated fleeing to elude, driving on a revoked license, speeding, failure to stop at an intersection, improper turn signal and disregarding a stop sign.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Kailey Hopkins said the Round Lake Beach Police Department received a call on February 16 for a driving complaint.
The caller reported a person driving a black Jeep with the back window open was throwing beer cans or bottles out of the car.
Officers located the car and attempted to conduct a traffic stop on it, Hopkins said.
The driver pulled over into Domino’s Pizza, 308 West Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach.
Hopkins said the officer got out of his vehicle and the driver, who was later identified as Tapia, drove off.
Officers recognized Tapia from very distinct tattoos on his left arm and from previous contacts with him.
Tapia drove 55 mph in a 25 mph zone and disobeyed three stop signs, Hopkins said.
Those included stop signs at Meadowbrook Drive and Walnut, Meadowbrook Drive and Geneva Terrace, and Meadowbrook Drive and Golfview Drive.
Hopkins said Tapia then blew through two more stop signs, including one at Lotus Drive and Golfview Drive and the other at Beverly Drive and Golfview Drive.
The officer had his lights and sirens activated during the entire chase, Hopkins said, adding that Tapia kept looking at the rearview mirror.
Officers knew the driver was Tapia and were ordered to eventually stop the pursuit due to safety reasons.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office later located the car parked in the 36400 block of North Hawthorne Lane in Ingleside.
The car was unoccupied and towed, Hopkins said. Tapia’s girlfriend reported the vehicle stolen and gave officers the location where she was, which is where officers found Tapia and arrested him.
Tapia had an active arrest warrant out of Wisconsin for sexual assault of a child, Hopkins said.
He also had four other active criminal cases in Lake County at the time of the incident and was on pre-trial release for them.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to revoke his pre-trial release, which was granted.
“The defendant has demonstrated that there are no conditions, nor combination of conditions, which would prevent this defendant from committing new offenses. At this time the only remedy to ensure the defendant does not continue to violate laws is to detain him,” Hopkins said.
Tapia remains held in the Lake County Jail while also awaiting extradition to Wisconsin and is scheduled to appear in court again on March 13.