A Cook County judge has tossed a residential burglary charge against a 26-year-old man who prosecutors say climbed down the outside of a 39th-floor Streeterville high-rise and slipped into a neighbor’s condo while trying to get away from U.S. Marshals. Despite the legal win, Carlos Guevara Diaz is not going anywhere just yet; he remains in custody on out-of-state warrants following this week’s preliminary hearing.
At that hearing on Wednesday, Judge Anjana Hansen ruled there was no probable cause to support the burglary count, saying, “It seems clear to me that there was not an intent to commit a theft therein.” As reported by CWB Chicago, Hansen told prosecutors that Guevara Diaz would remain held on two outstanding out-of-state warrants and that the burglary charge could be brought back only if a grand jury returns an indictment.
How the arrest unfolded
According to prosecutors, U.S. Marshals went to Guevara Diaz’s 39th-floor apartment on June 30 to serve the outstanding warrants. When officers did not find him there, investigators say he was later spotted coming out of an emergency exit, then climbing down to a 38th-floor balcony and letting himself into a neighboring unit.
The resident told police the apartment was left in disarray and provided photos showing Guevara Diaz wearing a maroon sweater. He suffered lacerations to his hands during the descent and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. On the way there, he allegedly dubbed himself “Superman,” according to CWB Chicago.
Illinois law on residential burglary
Under Illinois law, residential burglary is defined as occurring when someone “knowingly and without authority enters ... the dwelling place of another ... with the intent to commit therein a felony or theft,” making intent a key element prosecutors must establish. That statutory language appears in the Illinois Compiled Statutes and is the standard judges rely on when weighing probable cause; see the Illinois Compiled Statutes for the full text.
What comes next
For now, Guevara Diaz will remain jailed on warrants out of Evansville and Tampa while officials in those jurisdictions decide whether to seek his return. If Cook County prosecutors want to resurrect the burglary case, they will have to take it to a grand jury. If they do not, the charge will not come back to court.
