Brothers Won't Stop Drinking Beer, Woman Decked After She Dumps Out Their Beer Cans: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — For the second time this year, the Will County Sheriff's Office has booked 35-year-old Joliet resident Timothy Churnovic into the Will County Jail in connection with allegations of domestic violence. The latest arrest involved allegations he and his 38-year-old brother Matthew were consuming too many beers inside the Churnovic house off Gaylord Road and that the woman trying to curb their alcohol consumption was subsequently beaten and left bleeding near her eye because of Timothy Churnovic's violent temper.

This week, Will County's prosecutors charged Timothy Churnovic with two felony crimes of domestic battery. A petition to deny pretrial release under the SAFE-T-Act was filed, but one of the Will County judges ruled against it and ordered Churnovic's return to the Joliet community following Wednesday's court hearing. Joliet Patch will update this story once it receives confirmation on the judge's name.

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According to the petition, at 1:08 a.m. on Tuesday, Will County's sheriff's deputies were sent to the 2400 block of Emlong Street in Joliet for a domestic. Emlong Street is right off of Gaylord Road just past the railroad tracks.

Deputy Richards spoke to the victim who advised that she arrived home at about 5:45 p.m. and she lives with her boyfriend, the defendant. He was with his brother, Matthew Churnovic, and both brothers had been drinking and using drugs, prosecutors revealed in court documents.

"She was upset with him being intoxicated and started pouring out beers outside, and then tried taking a shot glass from defendant. He then pushed her against the wall and struck her in the face near her left eye," prosecutors announced.

After she called 911, she hung up because Timothy Churnovic told her if she called the police, she will be arrested and not him due to her having a domestic battery charge earlier in the year, court files indicate.

When a Will County sheriff's deputy arrived for the 911 hang up, the woman had already cleaned the blood off her face and said she had called accidentally.

Later on, the woman texted her dad asking for help treating her injury, and she went over to his place to get it bandaged. She returned home to Emlong Street about 1 a.m. and Timothy Churnovic had locked her out of the house, prosecutors outlined.

When she finally gained access to her Joliet house, she found the defendant and his brother Matthew were still up drinking and smoking cannabis, court records indicate.

She then unplugged the TV and threw a can of beer, and that's when she called 911 again, court files show.

The sheriff's deputy who responded to that call observed her eye beginning to bruise and swell.

Timothy Churnovic Denies Hitting Her, Brother Denies Seeing It

"Defendant was interviewed while highly intoxicated and had a video of (her) pouring out beer cans. He denied hitting her in the face. There was a healed cut on his face that he claimed was from her throwing a beer can at him, but (she) said it was from a bar fight defendant was in a week prior," court documents indicate.

As for the brother, Matthew Churnovic, a 38-year-old Lockport resident, was interviewed and said he heard them arguing but did not witness anything physical because he was in the bathroom. However, the victim advised that was not true, that Matthew had been in the room with them and witnessed it, and that the defendant told him that if he told anyone about the incident that he would physically harm him, the prosecutor's petition indicated.

"She noted that defendant has physically attacked Matthew in the past," court records noted.

In asking for the imposition of the SAFE-T-Act's dangerous standard against Timothy Churnovic, Will County's prosecutors indicated "the defendant has extensive felony history including violent offenses. He was arrested for domestic battery against the same victim earlier this year, but charges were not filed after the victim called repeatedly asking for the case to be dropped. He was previously convicted of domestic battery against a different victim as well as violation of an order of protection."

Timothy Churnovic was let out of the Will County Jail at 6:19 p.m. Wednesday, the jail logs reflect.