Earlville man charged in violent attack on woman, home invasion in Shabbona

SYCAMORE – An Earlville man has been charged in a violent attack and home invasion.

Steven S. Frangoules, 32, is accused of choking and beating a woman who repeatedly attempted to escape during a drive, threatening to kill her and breaking into her Shabbona home, court documents show.

Frangoules was charged in the April 15 attack with four counts of aggravated domestic battery causing strangulation, two counts of aggravated domestic battery with prior convictions, two counts of unlawful restraint, criminal trespass to residence and criminal trespass to property, according to DeKalb County court records filed April 16.

If convicted of the most serious crime, home invasion, a Class X felony, Frangoules could face six to 30 years in prison.

Frangoules appeared for his initial hearing Monday in front of Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen. The judge ordered Frangoules held at DeKalb County Jail without release pending trial.

Prosecutors with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office had filed a petition to deny Frangoules release, arguing the violent nature of his charges and past criminal history made him more likely to harm others again if freed.

“This is very extreme and severe, judge,” prosecutor Daniel Regna said. “The extreme nature and severity of this attack upon this victim certainly is the admission that there is a great threat, clear and present threat to this specific victim.”

Defense attorney Chip Criswell of the Public Defender’s Office had argued that lack of evidence put doubt on Frangoules’ case.

“There are no other witnesses who saw this,” Criswell said. “We don’t have photos to corroborate the victim’s injuries.”

The attack came about 11 p.m. April 15 after Frangoules and a woman were leaving Corral’s Bar and Grill in Sandwich en route to Shabbona, records show. Frangoules attacked the woman, who was driving a Nissan SUV, four different times in the course of the drive and upon arrival at a Shabbona apartment, according to court records.

During the investigation, police said they saw “obvious injuries” to the woman’s face, mouth, neck, arms and right ankle. She was treated by Shabbona paramedics after the attacks, according to court records.

The woman told police that during the drive that Frangoules became angry with her that she was spending time with Frangoules’ friends, police wrote in court filings.

Frangoules allegedly struck the woman in the face and tried to grab the steering wheel of the vehicle to crash it. The woman pulled the vehicle over along Latham Drive in Sandwich and tried to flee, according to court records. Frangoules allegedly chased her and attacked her again, choking her.

The woman later told police she came close to losing consciousness and feared for her life, according to court records.

Frangoules grabbed the woman and threw her back in the vehicle, which he began to drive.

The woman tried to flee three more times, according to court records. Once again while Franogules was driving on East Sandwich Road and Wagner Road.

“We know this because we later found [the woman’s] cell phone in the road near the intersection,” deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office wrote in court records.

Again, Frangouls chased after the woman, tackled her and brought her back to the vehicle. The woman told police she again tried to flee while they drove around U.S. Route 30 and Somonauk Road in Hinckley. She alleged Frangoules choked her again and repeatedly threatened to kill her, according to court records.

When they arrived at an apartment in Shabbona, the woman ran from the vehicle inside and locked the door. Frangoules allegedly tried entering the apartment through a window west of the front door, according to court records. Police wrote in court records that they “could see the window screen was pulled away from the window,” and the woman said the window hadn’t been like that before the attack.

Frangoules then used the woman’s keys to enter through the front door. He allegedly “slammed” the woman to the ground in the kitchen and covered her mouth and nose with his hands to restrict her breathing, according to court records. The woman told police she feared for her life again and nearly lost consciousness for a fourth time.

The woman finally was able to ecsape Frangoules, ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911, according to court records. Frangoules allegedly thew her laptop on the parking lot, destroying it.

“Steven continued to yell at [woman] that he was going to kill her the next time he saw her,” police wrote in court records.

Pedersen ordered Frangoules to appear again for arraignment at 1:30 p.m. May 9.

In his ruling, the judge cited police reports that allege Frangoules attacked the woman for simply hanging out with other people.

“There’s no indication that if I did release him that the victim wouldn’t do something else to make the defendant upset and that he would act violently toward her,” Pedersen said.