Crime & Law
Villa Park Man Charged With Property Damage, Stalking After Incident at Gov. Pritzker’s Chicago Home
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a news conference on May 24, 2023. (WTTW News)
A Villa Park man has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after he allegedly threw rocks at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Gold Coast home and previously left letters there.
The Illinois State Police on Tuesday announced that 38-year-old Adam Dabash had been charged with two counts of stalking and one count of criminal damage to property.
According to authorities, the Chicago Police Department asked the ISP to assist Monday with an investigation into an incident at Pritzker’s home. The governor on Tuesday confirmed that someone had thrown rocks through windows at the residence.
Chicago police were able to identify Dabash as the person who allegedly threw those rocks and took him into custody without incident. State police then identified Dabash as the same person who had previously left a pair of letters at Pritzker’s home in August. The content of those letters has not been made public.
According to the ISP, Dabash remains in Chicago police custody awaiting a detention hearing.
In May, Steven Woletz, of Aurora, was charged in a separate incident after he allegedly left a voicemail in which he threatened to “f--king kill” Pritzker.
Pritzker on Tuesday referenced a pair of high-profile incidents involving other Democratic governors — the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 and the arrest of an armed man in Madison last week who was attempting to find Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers at the state Capitol building.
While Pritzker said those other incidents were “very serious” in comparison to what occurred at his home, he said Tuesday there has been a “mild uptick” in threats posed to politicians and blamed former President Donald Trump for driving such feelings.
“The divisions across the country — which are being fomented by the MAGA Republicans led by their MAGA Republican leader Donald Trump — are causing people to feel that there’s a hatred that it’s OK to act upon if they disagree with you on an issue,” Pritzker said following an unrelated news conference Tuesday. “I think these examples are a sign of the times.”
