Streator burglary suspect arrested again, judge orders her jailed

Tania Torres-Magana was charged Thursday with residential burglary but released from La Salle County Jail with conditions. She was back in jail Friday. There she’ll stay for the time being.

Torres-Magana, 36, of Streator was charged Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court with residential burglary, a Class 1 felony carrying up to 15 years. It was her second such charge in three days. Torres-Magana was granted pre-trial release on her first count Thursday but within hours she was charged again.

According to an Ottawa police report, officers were dispatched at 1:10 p.m. Thursday to the 2700 block of Lainey Avenue a suspicious female walking through several backyards. Torres-Magana was found to have entered an attached garage, helped herself to a soda and then rifled through the glove box in the pickup truck parked in the garage.

Friday, prosecutors filed a motion to detain Torres-Magana. Cash bonds were eliminated last fall under the SAFE-T Act and prosecutors now must now show grounds for jailing a suspect while awaiting trial.

Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Greg Sticka said Torres-Magana had been out of custody “a matter of hours” when she entered a dwelling without authority. Torres-Magana also disregarded her pre-trial release papers, which were found tucked behind the HVAC unit at a nearby residence.

“Frankly, the lack of regard for the conditions of pre-trial release demonstrate she’s a danger to the public at this point,” Sticka said, “and the immediate disregard for the conditions (shows that) lesser restrictions are not a viable option.”

Public Defender Ryan Hamer said Torres-Magana had no significant criminal history and that the pair of break-ins “popped up out of nowhere.”

Hamer said her conduct “sounds like a mental health concern” and proposed placing her on GPS monitoring while she gets a mental health evaluation.

That argument fell flat with Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr., who ordered her held until at least her next appearance on Sept. 13.

“She’s obviously not going to comply with conditions of pre-trial release,” Ryan ruled, “because she couldn’t comply in (the first) 24 hours.”

Ryan did, however, leave the door open for Torres-Magana to be freed later if circumstances change or her condition improves.

As previously reported, Torres-Magana’s troubles began earlier this week when she allegedly broke into a Streator residence, surprising the homeowner. She was subsequently taken into custody but then let go from jail Thursday, mere hours before Ottawa police had to intervene.