Victim 'Appeared Sweaty, Crying And Out Of Breath,' Joliet Woman Denies Finding Messages On His Phone: Cops

JOLIET, IL — Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins has made the decision to keep 35-year-old Joliet resident Gustavo Rivera-Corado of the 1000 block of West Jefferson Street in the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act's dangerousness standard. Joliet police made the arrest last week and Rivera has been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated domestic battery and two crimes of domestic battery.

According to the prosecution's petition to deny pretrial release, Joliet's officers responded on May 13 to the 1000 block of West Jefferson for a Spanish-speaking female who announced she had an emergency and hung up. Joliet police 911 dispatchers advised the officers that the woman was indicating her partner just hit her and was trying to kill her, court files show. Before her call disconnected, the woman advised 911 she would run outside.

Joliet police responded to the Alliance Heating and Cooling building on West Jefferson Street and officers managed to yell to an open window as a neighbor ultimately opened the entrance door. Inside one of the apartments, officers heard people inside. The woman who answered the door "appeared sweaty, crying and out of breath," court files revealed.

Joliet police determined that Rivera and the woman are roommates "and have had a sexual relationship for approximately one year," prosecutors pointed out. Both of them spoke Spanish, requiring Joliet police translation services. "Officers noted that defendant had an overwhelming odor of alcoholic beverage that was emitting from his breath."

The court documents indicate that Rivera told Joliet police that the female roommate became upset at him after finding messages in his phone from another woman. The victim in this case later told the officers that Rivera had been drinking and he does often. The woman indicated she was asleep for a few hours but woke up when Rivera came back inside. He then became angry at her for unknown reasons, she told the officers "and it was not over messages she located in a phone. (She) stated that was a lie," prosecutors noted.

The woman indicated Rivera threw her into the bedroom and he held both of her hands behind her at one point. He then began to choke her with both hands around her neck, prosecutors revealed. The woman "lost consciousness and woke up on her bed ... (Rivera) used his foot, kicking her against the top of her head." The woman also said that Rivera had a knife on him and he threatened her with it.

Prosecutors indicated that Rivera has a pending aggravated DUI from Will County from December 2024, all his other crimes happened in New York: a 2014 driving while intoxicated, a 2012 driving while intoxicated, a 2011 false personation and a 2010 driving while intoxicated.

"Here, this defendant strangled (her) for so long that ... she lost consciousness and then woke up. Defendant used a knife to threaten" her, prosecutors noted in their filing.

Now that Judge DeWilkens has imposed the SAFE-T-Act, Rivera will remain in the Will County Jail indefinitely as his criminal cases proceeds.