Prosecutors say a suspect forced entry into a woman’s apartment during a home invasion where he attacked the victim and stole her belongings in Waukegan before a neighbor intervened.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 6:40 p.m. on May 30 to the 40 block of South Elmwood Avenue in Waukegan for an unknown problem call.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said the incident occurred at an apartment building and the victim told officers that her ex-boyfriend had broken into her bedroom and attacked her.
The suspect was identified as 32-year-old Josmel Williams-Baptis.
The victim said she and Williams-Baptis had been broken up for six months. She heard a knock at the door while she was in her bedroom with the door locked.
The woman heard Williams-Baptis’ voice but did not know how he got in. He yelled at her and accused her of seeing other men, Cannon said.
Cannon said Williams-Baptis began kicking the door and ultimately broke through the door and grabbed the victim by the neck with his hand.
She told police that Williams-Baptis forcefully pushed her onto her back on the bed. The victim tried getting up twice but Williams-Baptis pushed her down, Cannon said.
The woman, who reported difficulty breathing, said she broke free eventually and tried jumping out of the second story window to escape.
Williams-Baptis grabbed the victim by her arm and hair to keep her from escaping through the window, Cannon said.
Cannon said Williams-Baptis made threats to kill the woman and to slit her throat. He then went through her purse and stole a leather wallet, bank cards and cash, Cannon said.
A neighbor heard the commotion and intervened, prompting Williams-Baptis to flee.
The victim suffered visible injuries and complained of pain to her back. She said she was fearful and did not feel safe in her apartment anymore.
The door handle to her room was missing and the door was damaged, Cannon said.
The neighbor who intervened told police he saw Williams-Baptis grabbing the woman by the hair and saw him go through her purse before fleeing.
Williams-Baptis has a prior domestic battery case involving the same victim, Cannon said, adding that the case was dismissed due to lack of cooperation from the victim.
Police later obtained an arrest warrant charging Williams-Baptis with home invasion causing injury, residential burglary, aggravated domestic battery by strangulation and domestic battery.
He was taken into custody last month and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Williams-Baptis pending trial, arguing he poses a real and present danger to the victim.
“Now, the Defendant broke into her home, busting the locked doorknob off of the door, grabbed her, pushed her forcefully onto a bed, threatened to kill her and slit her throat, and stole from her purse before fleeing when [victim’s] neighbor came to her aid. [She] was so desperate to escape this Defendant that she was willing to jump out of a second story window,” Cannon said.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition and Williams-Baptis remains held in the Lake County Jail.
He is scheduled to appear in court again on October 30 for an arraignment hearing.