CHICAGO — A Cook County judge on Tuesday rejected a prosecutor’s request to have a man who allegedly stalked and threw rocks at the home of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker jailed as a safety threat. Judge William Fahy decided that the public’s safety could be assured by releasing the man, 38-year-old Adam Dabash, on electronic monitoring instead, according to court records.
Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers told Fahy that surveillance video showed Dabash walking outside the governor’s home in the 1400 block of North Astor around 9:45 a.m. Monday. Dabash allegedly stopped twice to throw baseball-sized rocks at the mansion’s windows, then returned to throw another rock at the windows. She said three of the governor’s windows were damaged, with one rock recovered from inside the mansion and two found outside.
Rodgers estimated the governor’s losses at $7,900.
Pritzker and “several other individuals” were inside his home at the time of the incident, but no injuries were reported.
Chicago police responded to assist Illinois State Police troopers at the scene. Officers located Dabash about ten minutes later in the 1200 block of North Clark Street, a CPD arrest report said. The report listed his home address in Villa Park.
According to Rodgers, investigators determined that Dabash also tossed notes over the governor’s fence on August 26 and August 28. She said his face is visible on surveillance video from both days, and his name was written on both notes. No other details about the content of those notes were included in a copy of the written proffer provided by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Dabash destroyed the mattress in his police holding cell and told officers at the police station that Illinois has a “m****r f****r for a governor.”
He’s charged with two counts of felony stalking, felony criminal damage to property, and misdemeanor criminal damage to property. Rodgers said he has no criminal background.
He is due back in court on October 16.
