'He Said He Would Kill Her If She Called The Cops,' Rockdale Police Told Woman Owed Him $700: Prosecutors

ROCKDALE, IL — A 31-year-old Crest Hill man who lists his employer at the United States Marine Corps will remain in the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act following last week's arrest by Rockdale's Police Department in connection with allegations that Ashar Simmons violently choked a woman, lifting her off her feet, vowing he would kill her if she called the cops, court files show.

Simmons is now charged with aggravated domestic battery and two crimes of domestic battery.

Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin agreed with prosecutors, who asked that Simmons remain detained under the SAFE-T-Act. He will now remain in the Will County Jail for the next several weeks, if not many months, as his court case proceeds at the courthouse. Simmons comes from the Pioneer Road apartment units in Crest Hill.

Incidentally, just over three years ago, in October 2022, Channahon police used a projectile launcher to shoot Simmons, then 28, in the abdomen during a Monday morning standoff with police, according to chief Adam Bogart. Joliet Patch's story was headlined, Cop Shoots Man With Projectile Launcher During Standoff: Channahon PD. That incident happened around 9 a.m. and police put Galloway School, Channahon Junior High and Families of Faith Christian Academy on lockdown as a precaution.

Then, last week in Rockdale, Simmons was arrested during a middle of the night disturbance.

According to the Will County State's Attorney's Office filing, at 2:08 a.m. on Jan. 22, Rockdale police responded to the 1200 block of Bellview Avenue for a domestic. Officers found Simmons there and he told them he was home all day, texting the victim regarding money she owed him. He claimed she owed him $700. When she came home at 11 p.m., an argument ensued about the money and Simmons started going through her purse, looking for money, court files show.

Simmons maintained the woman then came over, pushed him and head-butted him in the face. He told Rockdale police he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. After showing the officers what he did to her, Simmons said he put her into a bear hug in order to calm her down, prosecutors outlined.

According to the defendant's account, he let her go and then waited 15 to 20 minutes before going back into her room demanding his money and that following another brief argument, the police officers arrived.

The victim's statement to Rockdale police painted a much darker picture for Simmons.

She indicated that when she walked into her residence, Simmons began yelling at her, asking where his money was. He then began choking her to the point her feet were dangling off the floor, court files show.

She indicated she could not talk or breathe the entire time, but she did not lose consciousness. While Simmons choked her, he slid her body to the table, floor, walls and ottoman, prosecutors advised Judge Gavlin.

The victim noted that Simmons was using her body to destroy her papers, decor and her table. He threw her phone at her shoulder and told her, "he would make her life hell and that she was going to make him money," prosecutors noted.

During the second altercation, after she went to her bedroom to lie down, Simmons slammed her on the ground and then picked her up and pinned her against the bedroom wall, court files show. The victim said Simmons was yelling at her, saying he would kill her if she called the cops. She was choked again and Simmons punched the door, causing the door to hit her in the forehead.

The victim said she managed to find her old phone, run into her bathroom and call 911, court files noted. The Rockdale woman filled out all the reports of domestic violence and a strangulation supplement, according to the prosecutors.

On court records, Simmons listed his wages as $2,000 per month and listed his employer as USMC.

Prosecutors noted that he had a 2022 Will County case involving threatening a public official that resulted in a sentence to mental health court. In 2020, he violated an order of protection and received 12 months of court supervision in DuPage County. A separate 2020 case of violating an order of protection and resisting a police officer was dropped in DuPage County.