Charges for Stebic still pending following arrest

JOLIET -- Although Plainfield police arrested Craig Stebic on Sunday for allegedly threatening a neighbor, he has yet to be formally charged with a crime by the Will County state's attorney's office.

That doesn't mean he won't be at some point, perhaps at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 1, his next court date.

So George Lenard, his lawyer, filed paperwork in court Wednesday to preserve any potential evidence that might be favorable to a defense.

Stebic, 43, has been in the public eye since his wife disappeared April 30, 2007, from the family's home, 13244 Red Star Drive, Plainfield.

Lisa Stebic, 37 and a mother of two, was last seen by her husband. Stebic told police she simply walked away from the Nature's Crossing subdivision, her purse and cell phone in hand, her car left behind.

When she vanished, the couple had been married for many years but were in the process of a divorce. After she vanished, Stebic didn't notify police. A neighbor called them the next day.

Although there has been an exhaustive search, more than two years have passed, and Lisa Stebic hasn't reappeared.

In July 2007, police dubbed Stebic a person of interest in the case, but he hasn't been charged with any crime.

At 1:37 p.m. Sunday, Stebic was arrested while outside his home, police said. While the authorities were investigating a fireworks-related complaint, Stebic allegedly made some kind of threatening statement about a neighbor. But they have had little else to say about the incident.

Accompanied by Lenard, Stebic appeared Friday afternoon in Will County Judge Marzell Richardson's courtroom. In his motion, Lenard described the video camera mounted on a utility pole and is trained on Stebic's two-story home.

"It is believed that Craig R. Stebic's home is under 24-hour surveillance by the use of this neighborhood surveillance equipment," Lenard wrote. "It is believed that the entire incident that occurred on Oct. 25, 2009, was in full view and within listening distance of this neighborhood surveillance camera and was recorded by the surveillance equipment."

Lenard included photographs of the equipment in his written motion.

After discussing the matter with Lenard and Will County Assistant State's Attorney Ken Chudwin, the judge agreed that any audio, video or written communications should be preserved in the case. He also gave Stebic permission to travel to Indiana for business and Michigan for pleasure.

Lenard talked briefly about the case later on Friday.

"After the Will County state's attorney's office reviews the tape that now will be preserved by a court order -- a tape that I believe contains both audio and video -- they will determine that Mr. Stebic never assaulted anyone, and no criminal charge will be filed against him," he said.