On Friday, March 6, 2020, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Team in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service – Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force (USMS-GLRFTF) apprehended three men wanted in connection with an unlawful restraint and aggravated battery investigation, which occurred on a roadway in Long Grove.
On January 25, 2020, Lake County sheriff’s deputies took a report regarding an 18-year-old female victim who was battered and robbed. Further investigation revealed the victim attended a party at a hotel in Mundelein with Jovanni Mora, 21, Neslye Y. Palacios-Flores, 23, and Juan A. Colon, 24, all of the 400 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Waukegan. Mora and Colon are documented street gang members.
After being involved in an argument, the victim requested a ride home to her Arlington Heights residence. Mora, Colon, and Palacios-Flores gave her the ride, but devised a plan to rob the victim. The three pulled the car over in a secluded area near Arlington Heights Road and Checker Road in Long Grove. The victim was forcefully removed from the car, then punched and kicked in the head and body. Money was stolen from her pockets during the attack. The victim was then forcefully pushed back into the vehicle. A short distance later, the vehicle slid off the roadway and into a ditch. Colon and Mora exited the vehicle to push it out, and the victim used the opportunity to run away and flag down a passing motorist. The victim sought medical treatment following the attack.
Following an investigation, Lake County sheriff’s detectives obtained arrest warrants for the three on February 26, 2020, for robbery, aggravated battery, and unlawful restraint.
On March 6, 2020, members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Warrants Team developed information the three were living together at an apartment in the 400 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Waukegan. Warrants deputies served the warrants and began knocking on the door of the apartment. Warrants deputies heard the three conversing about stalling the deputies to devise a plan to escape from the residence. Warrant deputies then observed Colon attempt to flee out a first-story window, but he retreated and re-entered the window when he was confronted by deputies on the perimeter.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
— Lake County Sheriff’s Office
The warrants team forced entry into the apartment, where they apprehended all three. A 15-year-old boy was inside the home and arrested on an unrelated juvenile warrant.
Mora, Palacios-Flores, and Colon were transported to the Lake County Jail where they remain held on the following bail amounts:
Mora: $100,000.00 – next court date March 25, 2020, 1:30PM
Palacios-Flores: $50,000.00 – next court date March 11, 2020, 1:30PM
Colon: $125,000.00 – next court date today
The juvenile (identity not released) was transported to the Hulse Juvenile Justice facility near Vernon Hills.
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