Man Threw Dog Poop At Victim After Finding Pictures Of Another Man On Phone: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL —During the past month, Will County Judge Derek Ewanic has ordered more Joliet area criminal defendants accused of domestic violence to remain at the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act. The latest happened this week when 55-year-old Rodolfo Gonzalez of Braidwood was notified that he will stay in the county jail while awaiting trial on two counts of domestic battery.

Braidwood police took him away in handcuffs on Sunday morning. "It is alleged that the defendant's pretrial release poses a real and present threat to the safety of any person or persons or the community," declared the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

According to its successful petition to deny Gonzalez his pretrial release, around 7:45 a.m. Sunday, Braidwood police responded to Gonzalez's house in the 300 block of East Oak for a welfare check. An officer spoke with a 45-year-old Braidwood woman standing on the porch, crying, with blood streaming from her nose and right eye, court records show.

She told the Braidwood officer that Gonzalez hit her, and wants to kill her. The victim indicated that Gonzalez woke her up and threw dog poop at her after finding pictures of another man on her phone, court documents show.

Gonzalez gave Braidwood police an entirely different version of events. He claimed the victim must have hit herself and he did not touch her. He said the incident began when the victim woke him up and threw dog poop at him and then punched him, causing his gums to bleed.

"Officers observed (Gonzalez) to be slurring his words and an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath," the prosecutors told Judge Ewanic.

According to Will County's prosecutors, Gonzalez's criminal history includes a domestic battery conviction from 2017. He also had a 2011 DUI in DuPage County, criminal damage to property and criminal trespass to vehicle in 2007 from Cook County, violating an order of protection in Cook County in 2004, domestic battery in Cook County in 2004, a 1990 criminal damage to property in Cook County. He had another domestic battery arrest from 2014 in DuPage County and a domestic battery-strangulation arrest in 2012 in Las Vegas that was dismissed.

"The defendant has numerous prior criminal acts that are violent. The defendant has four prior acts of domestic violence in his criminal history," the prosecution's detention petition outlined.

Judge Ewanic agreed. And now the 55-year-old Braidwood man will remain at the Will County Jail indefinitely under the SAFE-T-Act while awaiting his eventual trial.