Shirt Ripped Off As Joliet Man Chokes Woman On Rowell Ave: Cops

JOLIET, IL — Mario Zamora, a 43-year-old Joliet resident from the 1100 block of Plaza Drive, must stay inside the Will County Jail for an indefinite period after a Will County judge found that Zamora meets the standard to be considered dangerous under the SAFE-T-Act.

Zamora was arrested last week by Will County Sheriff's deputies on Rowell Avenue in Joliet Township in connection with allegations that he choked a woman and tore her shirt off during their argument on the city's east side.

Last week, Will County prosecutors charged Zamora with aggravated domestic battery and domestic battery.

According to the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow, at 9:10 p.m., Will County deputies were sent to the 800 block of Rowell Avenue on April 14 for a fight. The victim told deputies that she and Zamora were driving to her house to retrieve her cell phone when Zamora began to feel her body on the outside of her clothing. She told him to stop, and she did not want him to keep touching her, and this sparked an argument, according to officials.

The woman tried to get out of the car while Zamora was still driving on Rowell Avenue, and that's when Zamora extended his right arm across her neck, prosecutors outlined for the judge. Zamora stopped the car near her house on Rowell Avenue and a scuffle ensued, Zamora ripped off her shirt and pushed her to the ground, court records show.

Once the woman stood back up, Zamora started choking her with both hands around her neck, prosecutors state. The woman never lost consciousness, police said, and she refused medical treatment when sheriff's deputies spoke with her.

The deputies saw redness around her neck and she had dried blood on her lips. A Will County crime scene investigator took photos of her injuries.

Zamora gave sheriff's deputies a different version of events. He maintained that he and the woman were on their way to her mother's house when they got into an argument about infidelities in their relationship. Zamora insisted they never got into a physical altercation.

When deputies asked him about the gash above his right eye and the dried blood, Zamora told deputies he became frustrated during the argument and punched himself in the face, court records show.

According to prosecutors, Zamora has been arrested six prior times for domestic battery, all in Cook County. He also served a six-year prison sentence for an armed robbery conviction from 2010 out of Cook County, and in 2017 he spent 134 days in jail after being convicted in Cook County of aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting arrest.