ROCKFORD In an incident with consequences for the city s proposed casino, a pair of friends were driving around last summer in Ogle County looking for a house party that an acquaintance told them was being thrown at an Airbnb rental.
After navigating a half-mile driveway at the Weldon Road address they were given, they were greeted by Joseph Castrogiovanni instead of the revelers they expected, according to Ogle County Sheriff s Department reports obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The 69-year-old owner of Giovanni s Restaurant and Convention Center had been alerted by an automated lighting and alarm system that a car was on his private drive in Ogle County southwest of Rockford.