Prosecutors say a Park City police officer performed a traffic stop on a random woman and sexually abused her under the threat of arrest on two separate occasions while also separately making inappropriate comments to a child while in uniform.
Patrick Cacho, 29, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of official misconduct and two counts of criminal sexual abuse.
The Park City Police Department said it received allegations on January 28 that Cacho, a part-time police officer with the agency, had acted unprofessionally.
The department learned that Cacho had possibly engaged in criminal conduct while on duty on more than one occasion in the preceding weeks.
Park City Chief of Police Kenneth Stoves said the allegations involved an adult female who had contact with Cacho during traffic stops.
Cacho, whose full name is Patrick Josef Alpay Cacho, was “immediately relieved of all duties” and placed on unpaid administrative leave based on the seriousness of the allegations, Stoves said.
The department also requested that the Illinois State Police conduct an independent investigation into the matter.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Brooke Wanzenberg said the state police began investigating on January 29 and identified the victim.
Investigators made contact with her and she gave a statement on January 30 outlining two separate incidents involving Cacho when he initiated traffic stops on her while in a marked patrol car and in uniform.
Wanzenberg said the victim was leaving a bar on December 27 when Cacho stopped her and told her to get into his car and drove her to her home.
Cacho threatened to give the woman a DUI charge unless she provided sexual contact, Wanzenberg said.
The victim, who did not know Cacho, said Cacho removed his bodyworn camera. There was also no incident report from the traffic stop.
The second incident occurred approximately two weeks later on January 11 when Cacho, along with numerous other officers, responded to a fight call involving weapons at the Silly Rabbit’s in Park City.
Wanzenberg said the same woman was a witness and present at the bar. She left the establishment after the incident and Cacho conducted a traffic stop on her, telling her she “knew the drill,” Wanzenberg said.
He followed her to her residence and propositioned her, Wanzenberg said, adding that Cacho kissed the woman and touched her sex organs.
Cacho again told her this was a way to not be charged with DUI, Wanzenberg said.
“This was a lone female victim… The defendant showed a pattern of behavior by following this victim from the same location. He became aware she frequented this bar. He targeted her as a vulnerable person who was repeatedly driving intoxicated so he could manipulate that fact to obtain sexual favors from her in exchange for writing her a ticket,” Wanzenberg said.
The victim admitted to investigators that she was intoxicated on both occasions but said she never knew Cacho prior to the encounters.
The Illinois State Police also learned during their “extensive” investigation that the Park City Police Department had been made aware months prior to the allegations of a separate incident involving Cacho, Wanzenberg said.
A 16-year-old girl in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, was at a gas station getting gas when she noticed a man, later identified as Cacho, wearing a police uniform while staring at her, Wanzenberg said.
The girl went inside the gas station and exited, noticing Cacho was still watching her, before leaving the gas station.
Wanzenberg said Cacho then drove his vehicle, which was not a squad car, and followed the child.
Cacho honked at the girl and she pulled over and he told her that her gas tank was open.
Wanzenberg said Cacho did not ask the girl for her identification but leaned on the car and told her she was beautiful and asked if she had a boyfriend. He also allegedly asked for her phone number.
The girl was uncomfortable and immediately reported the incident to her mother when she got home and the police were notified.
Wanzenberg said officers confirmed through surveillance video that Cacho was wearing a uniform with Park City Police Department markings. They reported the incident to the department.
Cacho was first hired by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as a full-time deputy in December 2022 and left the agency in January 2024, according to law enforcement records.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli said Cacho resigned after it “became clear he would not successfully complete the vetting” in the field training program.
“This individual has not had any affiliation with our office since that time,” Covelli said.
He later joined the Park City Police Department as a part-time police officer in September 2025. He also works at a hospital as security.
Stoves said Cacho was taken into custody by the Illinois State Police on Tuesday and has now been terminated from the Park City Police Department.
The incidents have been reported to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
“While all individuals in the criminal justice system are presumed innocent until proven guilty, these allegations are deeply concerning and run counter to the ethical standards upheld by the Park City Police Department,” Stoves said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Cacho pending trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community.
“This defendant is a sexual predator who thought he was above the law and could act without consequence or retribution… This is an abuse of power… which erodes the public trust in law enforcement as a whole,” Wanzenberg said during a detention hearing Thursday.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition during the hearing and noted there were two encounters with the same victim and that Cacho used his position as a police officer in the process of the crimes.
“Based on everything I have in front of me, does establish predatory behavior where the defendant used his position as a police officer to engage in that behavior,” Nerheim said, adding that the Wisconsin incident occurred while Cacho was in uniform and shows the behavior occurred prior to the sexual abuse of the woman.
Attorney Robert T. Ritacca, who is representing Cacho, said his client denies the allegations of sexual misconduct and said any sexual contact was consensual with the alleged victim.
Ritacca also said that the woman was not the one who notified authorities of the alleged offenses and that it was her boyfriend who did so during an arrest.
Regarding the Wisconsin incident involving the child, Ritacca said Cacho was acting as a good Samaritan for the girl who had a hazard associated with her car. Calling her “beautiful” is not a criminal offense, the attorney said, adding that the allegations that Cacho is a predator are “unfounded.”
Ritacca said Cacho takes care of his brothers and stepchildren and has no criminal history besides a traffic ticket while arguing for his pre-trial release.
Cacho remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on May 22 for a preliminary hearing.