Wilmington's Carl Ellis Remains Jailed After Knocking Woman Out, Destroying His Ankle Bracelet: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — Carl Ellis, a notorious 32-year-old criminal defendant who comes from Wilmington, learned this week that he will remain in the Will County Jail in connection with his latest crime wave over the weekend, in which he destroyed his electronic monitoring device, harming a woman by knocking her out cold and then taking the woman's 1-year-old child away from her, according to court files. The child was eventually found safe.

"Here, defendant struck (his victim) with such force that (she) was knocked unconscious," prosecutors from Will County noted. "This incident was witnessed by both (the victim's) grandmother as well as the minor child who is one years old and is the child in common between defendant" and the victim.

This week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Ellis, now 32, with three crimes of domestic battery and one crime of escape. He also faces a charge of criminal damage to government supported property.

The criminal complaint noted that Ellis, on Oct. 5, knowingly damaged his Electronic Monitoring Device without the consent of the state of Illinois and his damage was more than $500. His escape charge indicated that Ellis was a person charged with a felony who was conditionally released through an electronic monitoring program, and that he escaped by removing the device from his ankle.

His three domestic battery charges indicate he struck a young woman in the head, grabbed her body and hit her in the head even more. Prosecutors pointed out that Ellis already has three prior domestic battery convictions, including one from last year in Will County, one from 2017 in Will County and one from 2016 in Grundy County.

According to the petition to keep Ellis locked away from the community, the Will County Sheriff's Office responded to Ellis' residence in the 19500 block of West Goodwin Road, where the victim told deputies she resides there with Ellis, their 1-year-old daughter and the woman's grandmother, who "lives on a structure on the property and not in the actual residence."

Deputies realized the victim was frantic, and had a swollen eye, red marks and bruises starting to form. She advised that Ellis hit her, took their child and left. The child's great-grandmother was also frantic, court files show, because she feared Ellis would harm his 1-year-old child.

The child was later found safe, police said.

The victim told deputies that she and Ellis were arguing about cell phones and that he took her cell phone and smashed it and in retaliation, she took Ellis' phone and smashed it. Ellis placed his 1-year-old daughter down and remarked, "Better call the cops because (she) is never seeing her kid again," prosecutors revealed.

Next, Ellis grabbed the child's mother and forced her to the ground and then he struck her, "which caused (her) to black out," court records indicate.

As for the electronic monitoring device, authorities went to a property in the 24800 block of Old Chicago Road and learned that the device was removed by Ellis.

When Will County Pretrial Services turned on the audible alarm, they found the device down a gravel road on the west side of Old Chicago Road.

"The device appeared to be destructively removed at the locking mechanism," prosecutors noted.

Ellis still has a felony drug trafficking case from Will County that remains pending, and another of his aggravated domestic battery cases from 2024 in Will County was dismissed. In addition to Will and Grundy, Ellis also has had several criminal cases in Kankakee County in recent years involving aggravated assault to police officers, aggravated domestic battery and battery.

As for Ellis' victim, the 28-year-old woman in Wilmington has now obtained an order of protection to keep Ellis away and out of her life.

"I am requesting an order of protection against Carl because he was arrested for domestic. I was attacked and slapped in the face, and he abducted my daughter," the woman notified Will County's judges.