'Overdosed' Shorewood Man Strikes Deputy Police Chief With Punch: Complaint

SHOREWOOD, IL — For the fourth time since 2016, 27-year-old Shorewood citizen Jack Bender is being kept in the Will County Jail. His latest confrontation with the Shorewood Police Department involved allegations Bender tried to injure deputy police chief Eric Allen at his house.

Will County Judge Derek Ewanic ruled in favor of the Will County State's Attorney's Office petition seeking to deny Bender any pretrial release. Bender comes from the 25600 block of West Coachford Court. Shorewood police booked into the jail on the afternoon of June 16 and he's remained there ever since.

Bender is charged with two counts of aggravated battery and one domestic battery. On June 9, the Shorewood resident hit Deputy Police Chief Eric Allen in the forearm, he spit at Officer Daniel Doughtery and threw a watch at one of his family members, according to the complaint.

According to Will County's prosecutors, around 1:35 p.m. on June 9, Deputy Chief Allen was called to Bender's home for a drug overdose. The caller indicated that Jack Bender may have overdosed on his medication.

In the driveway, Allen learned that Bender may have consumed alcohol and all his remaining medication, 10 to 12 pills. Allen was let into the home and Jack Bender appeared heavily intoxicated, the court files show. Bender was asked to step outside, and on the front sidewalk, he began to insult the Shorewood police officers and "the defendant asked officers to shoot him in the head multiple times," prosecutors pointed out.

When Bender raised his arm at the deputy chief, Allen told him to lower his arm, and that's when Bender lunged at the deputy chief of Shorewood and "swung with a closed right fist toward his face. Officer Allen stepped backwards and blocked the strike with his left forearm. The defendant's right forearm struck Officer Allen's left forearm with great force," prosecutors revealed.

That's when Officer Dougherty put Bender into a bear-hug from behind and took him into custody.

Bender continued cursing at the Shorewood police as they transported him in the police car.

"The defendant turned his face toward Officer Dougherty and deliberately spit at him. Officer Dougherty moved his head, allowing the saliva to miss his face," the prosecution's filing showed.

Back at the home, the original victim had suffered bleeding to his left forearm with blood coming from two directions. The victim told the police that Jack Bender threw a metal watch at him and he used his left arm to block it from hitting his face.

As for Jack Bender, he already has a pending Will County charge of resisting arrest from April 18, the judge learned. He also spent 10 days in the Will County Jail in 2019 for a domestic battery offense and has a DUI conviction from 2015.

"The defendant poses a threat to the domestic battery victim ... as well as the community in general," Will County's State's Attorney's Office wrote.

Judge Ewanic agreed. He checked the box indicating that Jack Bender has met the dangerous standard by clear and convincing evidence.