Man Explains Lie To Elmhurst Cops On Carjacking: Report

ELMHURST, IL – It took a while, but Elmhurst police finally got an explanation from a man on why he lied about being a carjacking victim, authorities said.

Alexander Torres Mondragon, 21, of Chicago, faces a felony charge of disorderly conduct involving a false crime report, police said.

Patch obtained the police report through a public records request.

During an interview at the police station, the man, who crashed his car, told police he feared getting in trouble with ICE, according to the report.

Under a 2017 state law, police are barred from taking part in immigration enforcement outside of responding to federal warrants.

Late at night on March 6, Elmhurst police were called to north Elmhurst's Elm Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in response to a reported armed carjacking. The caller, later identified as Mondragon, told a 911 dispatcher that the supposed suspect was out to kill him and his girlfriend, police said.

Mondragon told the dispatcher that he punched the suspect, causing his car to crash into a guardrail on an expressway ramp, police said.

Besides Elmhurst, the call brought departments from Northlake, Addison, Villa Park, Lombard and DuPage County into action.

Dispatchers, though, had trouble getting information from Mondragon, who kept hanging up. A ping was used to track Mondragon's location. And drones were deployed.

Officers found the couple walking north on York Street, near North End Avenue.

The girlfriend, who only spoke Spanish, did not tell officers much, saying she was scared and that she wasn't sure if there was a gun, the report said. Under further questioning, she said there was no gun.

Asked why she lied, the girlfriend said she did not want problems with the police.

She then said she and her boyfriend were walking on York Street for exercise and that they had a dog at one point.

Asked why her boyfriend called 911, the girlfriend said she was scared and did not want to talk anymore.

Later, she shifted her story to say her boyfriend hydroplaned, resulting in the crash. She also revealed they had just been at Rosati's Pizza, 687 N. York St., to buy sodas before police stopped them while walking, the report said.

"If an offender was actively chasing them as (Mondragon) advised on the 911 call, it did not make sense for them to stop and get a drink if they were in fear for their lives," the report said.

In his interview, Mondragon at first stuck to his story about a carjacking. He then said he "made up" that he crashed to "get the process going faster," police said.

Mondragon finally then referred to his fear of ICE.

Officers then asked whether Mondragon knew he could get in trouble by calling in a false report. He nodded in agreement, police said.

Mondragon admitted that he ended up swerving and crashing because of the weather, police said.

He was taken to the DuPage County Jail.