Park City Cop Charged with Sexually Abusing Woman During Traffic Stops

PARK CITY, Ill. — Patrick Cacho, a 29-year-old part-time officer from Kenosha, Wisconsin, was arrested Tuesday by Illinois State Police on 10 felony charges stemming from sexual abuse allegations during traffic stops in this small Lake County village near Waukegan and Gurnee. The Lake County State's Attorney approved four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Class 2 felonies), two counts of aggravated battery (Class 3), two of official misconduct (Class 3) and two of criminal sexual abuse (Class 4). Cacho appeared in court Thursday before Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim, who ordered him held at Lake County Jail, citing two encounters with the same victim where Cacho allegedly used his authority to coerce the woman under threat of arrest.

The Park City Police Department flagged the issue on Jan. 28, 2026, after a civilian accused Cacho of criminal conduct during on-duty traffic stops in prior weeks, prompting ISP's Division of Criminal Investigation to launch a probe with interviews and search warrants. Prosecutors detailed how Cacho pulled over a random woman twice, abusing her sexually while leveraging his position; he was terminated immediately upon arrest. Separately, Cacho made inappropriate comments to a young girl during a stop, leaning on her car to say she was 'beautiful' and asking if she had a boyfriend, though he did not request her ID.

Nerheim described Cacho's actions as 'predatory behavior,' noting a similar incident in Wisconsin while in uniform that predated the Illinois abuses, and granted a pretrial detention petition. A former Lake County sheriff's deputy, Cacho's case underscores vulnerabilities in small departments like Park City's, which serves a population of about 7,500 in northern Lake County. ISP presented the case April 28, with charges filed the next day; Cacho is presumed innocent until proven guilty.