LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — A Romeoville man allegedly held a woman he picked up at random near Midway against her will for over a week, court documents show.
Frank Saporito, of Romeoville, is facing three felonies after police located him and a woman in the parking lot of a Wauconda Jewel-Osco on Saturday.
Authorities believe Saporito pulled up his truck at a bus stop near Midway Airport and asked a woman if she needed a ride. The two did not know each other and the woman got in and was driven to his home in Romeoville, documents state.
The woman asked him to leave the home that night and Saporito allegedly took her phone. The next day, she attempted to leave the residence and was allegedly struck in the face by him.
Documents state that she saw firearms in Saporito’s bedroom and was too afraid to leave again.
Saporito allegedly used a machete over the next few days to intimidate the woman, including following her into the bathroom with it. When they were driving, he allegedly held the machete in his hand.
Officers were on routine patrol Saturday when they observed Saporito and the woman in the parking lot of Jewel-Osco in Wauconda.
Saporito was acting erratically and the woman looked uncomfortable, according to authorities. The two entered a restaurant and a traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle when they left near Slocum Lake Road and Route 12.
The woman had bruising and looked panicked, according to court documents. She reportedly told officers she was being held against will and that parents had probably reported her missing.
Saporito was “sweating heavily” and “yelling about the Lord” while being taken into custody, documents state,
Suspected heroin was found on the driver’s seat and a safe was located. Officers applied for a search warrant and 11 grams of suspected heroin was found in the safe.
The machete, over 6 inches long, was reportedly found on the floor board.
Saporito said wanted the woman to be his wife and that he only goes after “prostitutes and drug addicts” because they make “the best wives,” documents state.
The petition to detain ended with a note about his alleged history using replicate firearms.
“This Defendant has a history of being charged with and convicted of possessing replicate firearms which is incredibly concerning as he appears to be using them as if they were real to frighten his victims as a workaround to the prohibition on possessing firearms as a convicted felon. It is just as concerning that he has now moved on from fake guns to Machete’s (sic) as there is a clear and immediate risk of great bodily harm being inflicted upon a victim with a machete.”
Saporito was charged with aggravated unlawful restraint, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and two counts of domestic battery.
He was ordered detained pending trial and is being represented by a public defender. Saporito’s next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1.