A retired Chicago police officer sexually assaulted, choked and pointed guns at his fiancée, threatening to kill her twice during a drunken rage at his home on the Southwest Side, Cook County prosecutors said Monday.
Edison Cevallos initially became agitated with the woman on the night of May 20 after he had been drinking all day, prosecutors said.
The 60-year-old woman retreated to the upstairs bedroom. But Cevallos followed and the two started to argue about her kissing her son-in-law on the cheek, Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said.
Cevallos, 63, ended up putting the woman in a chokehold and tried to put his legs on top of her, DeBoni said.
When she broke away, Cevallos allegedly grabbed a small firearm from a drawer next to the bed, pointed it at the woman and threatened to kill her.
The victim tried to deescalate the situation by hugging and kissing Cevallos, but he repeatedly pushed her away, DeBoni said. Eventually, Cevallos calmed down and put the gun near the bed and the woman covered up the weapon with her shirt.
Later in the night, an agitated Cevallos reached for a larger gun in the drawer near the bed and allegedly pointed it at the woman’s head, threatening to kill her again.
Once again, she tried to calm Cevallos down with affection. Cevallos eventually put the second firearm down and took his pants off before the victim began performing oral sex on him, DeBoni said. Cevallos, however, went on to pull the woman’s hair and forcefully pushed her head down several times over the span of two hours, DeBoni said.
When Cevallos dozed off around 4 a.m., the woman texted her daughter, asking her to fake an illness so she could leave the house. But Cevallos woke up and allegedly began choking her. The woman, who has since broken off her engagement to Cevallos, doesn’t remember what took place after except waking up several hours later, DeBoni said.
The couple argued for several hours more in the morning before the woman called Cevallos’ sister-in-law, telling her that she was scared of Cevallos and that he pointed guns at her, prosecutors said. She also told Cevallos’ brother about the abuse.
The woman took photos of her neck and shoulder injuries and filed a police report on May 24. A few days later, she was granted an emergency order of protection against Cevallos and was treated by her doctor for stress and neck pain, DeBoni said.
Cevallos’ defense attorney argued that the woman, who was seen on surveillance video leaving his client’s house several times, was “making no attempt to leave what [the prosecutors] describe as a ferocious, horrendous situation.”
The lawyer also argued that Cevallos couldn’t have been extremely intoxicated because he’s diabetic and on insulin and can only handle “very little alcohol.”
“She’s changed stories at least three times that I’m aware of,” the defense attorney said in an attempt to chip away at the woman’s credibility.
Cevallos was placed on administrative leave at Morton College after his FOID card was revoked in June, his attorney said. Cevallos worked as a police officer at the Cicero school, where he had been employed after he retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2017.
Cevallos was ordered held on $100,000 bail for aggravated criminal sexual assault and battery. A judge recommended he be placed on GPS monitoring if he is able to post bond. While Cevallos awaits trial, he cannot contact his ex-fiancee. He also can’t talk to some of his family members, who are considered witnesses, about the case, the judge ordered.
Cevallos is expected back in court Jan. 12.
