Crystal Lake Man Ordered Held Without Bond After Attack: Judge

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – A Crystal Lake man who was charged with aggravated domestic battery after police said he attacked a woman with a hammer and a hatchet is being held without bond after a judge decided he presents a clear and present threat.

Mark Alex, 57, was being held in the McHenry County Jail on a $2 million bond after was arrested in connection with the attack. Prosecutors said at a hearing on Tuesday that Alex threatened to kill his estranged wife after she allowed him to come to visit the couple’s young son, Shaw Media reported.

The 36-year-old woman had sought several orders of protection against Alex, who had been living in an Algonquin hotel at the time of the March 5 incident at the woman’s apartment. Police said that the two began to argue and that Alex used a hammer and the hatchet to cause severe injuries to the woman’s head.

Shaw Media reported that on March 5, Alex made sexual advances toward the woman, who rejected the advances. That led to the disagreement in which prosecutors said that Alex attacked the woman while she was cleaning and turned music on loudly from a Bluetooth speaker he had in a backpack.

Prosecutors said that Alex approached the woman with the hatchet and hammer and said, “I brought this for you…I’m going to kill you.”

The woman told police that she believes the couple’s young son witnessed part of the attack, Shaw Media reported. The woman sustained 11 wounds to the head and was also injured on her stomach and legs.

The woman said that she fears Alex will post bond and kill her and told the judge of a history of domestic violence involving her estranged husband, Shaw Media reported.

Alex was arrested after police found him at the hotel where he had been staying. The report said he had ingested over-the-counter pain medication and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Alex is scheduled to return to court on March 25 for arraignment and is slated to go to trial on April 19.