Grand Victoria Casino Parking Garage Rapist Pleads Guilty

Posted on: October 1, 2020, 01:12h. 

Last updated on: October 1, 2020, 02:12h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A 36-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted a college student at gunpoint last year in a parking garage at Illinois’ Grand Victoria Casino may spend between 42 and 75 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to charges on Wednesday.

Parking garages pose risk to women
Justin Dalcollo (shown in 2019) could be sentenced to 75 years for the sexual assault of a woman in an Illinois casino parking garage. (Image: Chicago Tribune)

Justin Dalcollo of Nicholasville, Ky. entered the plea in DuPage County Court to a single count each of aggravated criminal sexual assault and armed robbery, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The March 22, 2019 incident began when Dalcollo went up to the 21-year-old student in a parking lot at the Bloomingdale Court Mall in Bloomingdale, Ill., as she entered her car. He allegedly displayed a gun and made his way into her car, police said. He then demanded that she drive to a bank in Glendale Heights, where he allegedly insisted that she withdraw $300.

They continued to drive in her car until they reached the parking garage at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. The car stopped and was parked between two cars, the Daily Herald, a regional Illinois newspaper reported. Dalcollo then allegedly sexually assaulted the woman while in the garage.

He then had the victim drive to a convenience store where he demanded she go into the store with him as he purchased chewing tobacco, police said. He then demanded that she drive him to the Elgin train station. A call was made for a cab to pick him up at the station.

After he left her car, the woman went to a hospital. The sex assault was reported to the police. Dalcollo was arrested the next day in Chicago.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph McMahon called Dalcollo “a dangerous and erratic man who poses a significant threat to the community,” MySuburbanLife.com, a regional news site, reported.

Dalcollo will next appear in court for a pre-sentencing hearing on Oct. 29.

Bail was denied upon his arraignment. Dalcollo has been held in the DuPage County Jail since his arrest, MySuburbanLife.com said.

The victim reportedly was home on spring break when the assault took place.

Large Parking Garages Pose Risk to Women

“Large parking garages, whether in casinos or other residential or public buildings, pose grave danger to women, and comprise the places where stranger rape is likely to take place, particularly when security and lighting are minimal or non-existent,” University of Illinois at Chicago criminology professor Edna Erez told Casino.org.

An expert on victims of crime and crimes committed against women, Erez warns that women “are always advised to be aware of the risk and take cautions.”

She cautions that victims are always advised to comply with perpetrators’ demands in order to avoid or minimize harm.

Violent Crimes Seen in US Casino Garages

Last month, Casino.org reported that multiple US casino garages and parking lots were the scenes of shootings in recent months. In one incident, a shooting took place at the Agua Caliente Casino garage in Palm Springs, Calif.

The victim was wounded. A suspect was later arrested for attempted murder.

Also, last month an occupant in a passing car fired into a crowd assembled in a parking lot near the Stage Door Casino in Las Vegas. The trio of wounded victims required treatment at a local hospital. Three men later were arrested for the shooting.

A self-described dive bar, the Stage Door features video poker and slot machines.