After 'Free Shots,' Highland Park Man Smashes Tesla, Tent: Prosecutors

Highland Park IL

03 May, 2022

6:39 PM

Description

SKOKIE, IL — A Highland Park man appeared in court Tuesday in Skokie after turning himself in to Northbrook police to face felony charges in connection with an incident last year. Robert Mauer, 54, of the 700 block of Broadview Avenue, was charged with two counts of criminal damage to property after police received the results from a DNA test on blood collected on Oct. 9, 2021, according to police and prosecutors. Around 1 a.m. that morning, officers dispatched to investigate a commercial alarm near the 1300 block of Shermer Road heard a "loud bang" followed by a car alarm, according to Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jenna Reinhardt. The officers headed toward the sound and found a Tesla with a smashed front driver's side window and noticed blood on a side mirror and inside the driver's side seat and center console, according to police. They also noticed that an outdoor dining tent that belongs to the restaurant Kamechachi had been ripped. "Officers also noted blood and bloody handprints on the tables inside the dining tent," Reinhardt said. "There were also two spent fire extinguishers with powder from the extinguishers on the ground and tables inside the tent." The officers found Mauer behind some nearby bushes, bleeding from his right hand and left leg, authorities said. According to the prosecutor, he declined medical attention and was handcuffed and taken into custody at the scene but released after officers were unable to contact the Tesla owner or restaurant representatives. Nothing was reported stolen from inside the Tesla or dining tent. Police said they collected blood samples from the scene and from the handcuffs and sent them to the Northern Illinois Regional Crime Lab. The results were received April 9 and indicated a match with Mauer. Reinhardt said Mauer admitted damaging the Tesla but said he was unable to remember anything that happened after that during an interview with police in recent weeks. According to the allegations, Mauer did nearly $2,000 in damage to restaurant property and more than $3,300 in damage to the Tesla. Assistant Judge Anthony Calabrese asked the prosecutor if Mauer had provided police any clues as to his motive. "[Mauer] did make statements after his arrest indicating he had been at a bar earlier in the evening and had been getting free shots," Reinhardt explained. Robert W. Mauer, 54, of Highland Park, was arrested Monday and charged with criminal damage to property in connection with an October 2021 incident in downtown Northbrook., police said (Northbrook Police Department) According to Lake County court records, after Mauer was charged with domestic battery in connection with a December 2020 incident, he pleaded guilty to an amended battery in November 2021 in exchange a year of supervision. At the same time, he also pleaded guilty to several counts of driving with a suspended license. Mauer was arrested again on charges of driving with a suspended license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle in Wilmette on March 12, according to village police. Cook County court staff said he was arrested again on a suspended license charge on April 21. Calabrese ordered that Mauer post the $500 cash portion of his bond to secure his pretrial release, noting his lack of a significant criminal background and the "unusual circumstances which seem to be perhaps out of [his] typical character." The judge also ordered that he not have any contact with the owner of Tesla and to stay out of Kamehachi restaurant at 1320 Shermer Road. Mauer is due back in court May 17 in Skokie for a preliminary hearing on the two Northbrook felonies.