Emergency Room Terror At St. Joe's, Joliet Man Arrested: Police

JOLIET — Will County prosecutor Rose Aviles convinced Judge Derek Ewanic on Monday afternoon to keep 35-year-old Joliet resident Omar Mejia locked up inside the Will County Jail following his latest arrest against the same woman — this time inside the Saint Joseph hospital's emergency room, according to the prosecutor's version of events.

Mejia tried to strangle the woman after she went to the Joliet hospital off Glenwood Avenue because "she was not feeling well," the prosecutor said.

Inside the ER, Mejia became upset with her and during his effort to strangle her, the woman could not breathe, the prosecutor said. After he released his grip upon her, Mejia threw an object at her face and grabbed her by her ponytail, Aviles said.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English said at 8:20 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the St Joseph Medical Center at 333 Madison St. for a domestic disturbance. The officers learned that while in a patient room in the emergency room, Mejia grew angry and grabbed the woman by the neck and pinned her down, according to English.

Police allege that Mejia then threw an item at the victim, before again grabbing her by the body and neck, eventually biting her in the lip during the attack. Mejia was taken into custody without incident after the officers located him near Springfield Avenue and Glenwood Avenue. He faces aggravated domestic battery charges.

The victim was a patient at the hospital.

On Monday afternoon, one of the Will County Public Defenders accepted the appointment to provide Mejia with legal services at the taxpayers' expense. The public defender informed Judge Ewanic that Mejia is living at a hotel in Shorewood and that he does not drive.

The public defender noted that Mejia has anxiety and depression and that he is receiving SSI because he has a leg injury that needs to be cared for.

It turns out, the Will County State's Attorney has formally charged Mejia with two crimes of aggravated battery and four crimes of domestic battery.

Joliet police also arrested Mejia last April on several counts of aggravated battery in a public place, aggravated domestic battery and domestic battery and for those crimes, Mejia stayed in the Will County Jail until July 31.

Last April's Joliet Patch headline read: "Daybreak Shelter Violence, Victim's Head Strikes The Floor: JPD." Patch reported that Mejia was back in the Will County Jail in connection with two more violent incidents on East Cass Street, including one that left a 60-year-old homeless man staying at the Daybreak Shelter hospitalized after his head smashed into the floor during an attack by Mejia, according to Joliet police arrest reports.