Prosecutors say a Chicago man stalked and surveilled a random Lake Forest resident, whom he did not know, while placing a tracking device on his vehicle and a hidden camera on his property.
Joshua E. Carrasco, 45, of Chicago, was charged with attempted residential burglary, stalking causing fear for safety, stalking causing a person distress and placing a video device at a residence.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said the victim and his girlfriend reside in Lake Forest and had been subject to conduct by Carrasco.
The victim has no relationship with Carrasco and has developed emotional distress and fear for his safety due to Carrasco’s covert surveillance of the victim, his home and his whereabouts, Cannon said.
The victim’s girlfriend walked to the driveway to retrieve their garbage cans on March 3 and found a hidden wireless camera.
The camera was wrapped in a camouflage print silicone sleeve in a row of hedges on the edge of the property line, Cannon said.
The camera was pointed at the victim and the girlfriend’s residence, facing the front of their house and the driveway, capable of recording inside the residence if the window coverings were open, Cannon said.
Police responded and confirmed that the camera did not belong to either the victim or his girlfriend.
Police inspected the camera and video footage and saw that it was labeled “D’s new crib.” “D” is a nickname for the victim, Cannon said.
A SIM card and an SD memory card allowed for remote transmission of footage.
Video footage on the camera showed Carrasco recording himself inside a white Ford Explorer, Cannon said.
Carrasco can be heard in the video on the phone with a second suspect, who is unidentified, saying he needs to add a camera to the Lake Forest home to keep it in the tree, Cannon said.
He also mentioned needing to remove a camera from an address in Morton Grove and how he needed to tag a “murdered out” minivan, later determined to be the victim’s vehicle, which is usually parked outside of the home, Cannon said.
The victim told police that he was driving his minivan on March 1 when he received a notification that an Apple AirTag was traveling with him.
The memory card files from the camera also captured a video showing Carrasco meeting with an unknown second suspect at a Taco Bell in Highland Park on March 1, Cannon said.
Carrasco recorded himself exiting his car and entering the second suspect’s vehicle.
Cannon said the two traveled to the victim’s home where the camera was placed in the position it was recovered from two days later.
Carrasco was also recorded discussing how he surveils the victim’s place of business, Cannon said.
Officers learned Carrasco had been in the area of the victim’s home on at least six occasions in the last two weeks.
The victim’s home security footage captured Carrasco’s vehicle driving past the home in the afternoon on March 14, Cannon said.
After the hidden camera was installed, the victim received three separate burglar alarms at the house but law enforcement was unable to identify any points of entry.
Police were notified on March 18 after Carrasco’s vehicle was traveling northbound on Route 41 in Lake Forest in an area near the victim’s residence, Cannon said.
Officers saw Carrasco driving past the home and then pulling into the driveway of a random house.
They conducted a traffic stop on him and saw in plain view vehicle trackers, known to be used for residential burglaries.
Cannon said Carrasco was arrested and a search of his vehicle led to three cameras, two camouflage print sleeves similar to the one on the camera recovered from the victim’s residence, and an Apple AirTag in a magnetic silicone case. He refused to speak with officers.
Prosecutors said Carrasco has an extensive criminal history, including arrests for multiple residential burglaries in Cook County, armed habitual criminal and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Carrasco pending trial and the request was granted by Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim.
“The history and characteristics of this Defendant, coupled with the nature and circumstances of the charged offenses show how this Defendant has no regard for the law, authority, court orders, or the safety of other people, including the victim,” Cannon said.
“Detention of this Defendant is necessary to protect the victim, his girlfriend, and other people out in the community, as there is evidence that this Defendant is potentially engaging in this type of conduct against others,” the prosecutor said.
Carrasco remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on May 21 for a case management conference.