A man was arrested after authorities say he body-slammed his own elderly mother onto the roadway “like a football player,” directly in front of an oncoming car, leaving her with serious facial injuries in Wauconda.
Kevin M. Drew, 42, of Wauconda, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery to a victim over age 60, domestic battery with a previous conviction and domestic battery.
The Wauconda Police Department responded around 4:16 p.m. on May 28 to a residence that Drew shares with his 71-year-old mother after receiving a 911 call for a disturbance.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said a neighbor heard the dispute and a teacher from the Wauconda Grade School, which is behind the house, also heard the dispute from the school parking lot.
Officers arrived at the home in the 200 block of West Church Street and found the elderly victim, who had lacerations on her face and nose.
Officers also observed that she had a large golf ball-sized welt above her head that was “completely open and bleeding” and her nose was also bleeding, McConnell said.
The Wauconda Fire District was dispatched to the scene and provided her with treatment while transporting her to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington.
The victim required stitches to her large open welt above her eye.
She told police that Drew was intoxicated and acting crazy when he pushed her in the face, causing her to fall onto the ground and hit her face, which caused her injuries, McConnell said.
Officers also spoke with the teacher, who said that she was in the parking lot of the school, which backs up to the home, when she began hearing shouting.
The teacher yelled out to see if everyone was alright and heard a female voice shout something to the effect of “quiet, people can hear you,” McConnell said.
The shouting continued coming from the house and the teacher felt that something was off and she got into her car, exited the parking lot and drove over to the house to check on the people involved.
She turned onto Church Street and saw the female victim standing at the end of a driveway.
McConnell said the teacher continued driving when she suddenly saw Drew run at full speed at the victim and throwing her into the street directly in front of her vehicle.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Savannah Halcomb described it as Drew “body-slamming” the woman.
The teacher had to slam on her brakes in order not to hit the victim. She had already been driving slowly and was initially concerned that she had not been able to stop fast enough and may have bumped the victim, McConnell said.
The teacher got out of the car and provided aid to the victim while calling 911. She saw the suspect run back into the home.
McConnell said the teacher was shaken up and described the suspect as yelling at the victim and “out of his mind.”
Officers spoke with another witness, a neighbor, who stated that she heard screaming coming from the home for approximately an hour and a half before she saw Drew running at the victim and throwing her into the street.
Officers located Drew and he was visibly intoxicated, McConnell said. He said that the victim had made him mad and then talked about other issues but made no additional statements on what happened.
Officers canvassed the area and were able to obtain surveillance footage from another neighbor, which showed the victim standing at the end of their driveway and Drew standing at the top of the driveway yelling and screaming, McConnell said.
He was then seen running at the victim full force and hitting her “like a football player would hit someone in a game,” throwing her into the street right in front of the car, which was driven by the teacher, McConnell said.
Officers noted the victim was small and skinny and that there had been a long history of domestic calls at the home, with the most recent one occurring just 10 days prior.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Drew pending trial and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the request following a detention hearing.
Drew has previously been convicted of domestic battery and unlawful restraint in 2022 and 2020. Both cases involved his mother as the victim.
He also has other convictions, including for theft, DUI and harassment by telephone.
Drew remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday for an arraignment hearing.