Bolingbrook man charged with sexual assault

Posted on March 23, 2018
Police and prosecutors say Michael Vegeler met the woman through an online dating service. (Photo McLean County Jail)

By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – A man from suburban Chicago faces charges he sexually assaulted a woman he met online.

Michael Vegeler, 44, of Bolingbrook faces two felony charges of criminal sexual assault.

Prosecutors told a judge Friday morning that the victim met Vegeler in February in Uptown Normal after communicating through an online dating service. Police determined the pair later traveled to a Bloomington bar, and the woman claimed she felt strange en route. Investigators said video from the bar showed the woman swaying and falling from a chair. The woman said she woke up in a hotel room in Normal naked and with injuries including bruises to her face.

Prosecutors asked for a $500,000 bond while a court-appointed defense attorney asked for bond to be set at $50,000. A judge set bond at $200,000 with $20,000 needed to be released from custody.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…