Man Rubbed His Bleeding Feet On Joliet Police Officer: Prosecution

JOLIET, IL — A 43-year-old Joliet man from the 500 block of Emmett Street must remain in the Will County Jail indefinitely after Will County prosecutors convinced Judge Donald DeWilkins that Nicholas Pantoja is a dangerous person. Pantoja, according to his criminal complaint, rubbed his bleeding feet upon the leg of a Joliet police officer during Sunday's arrest.

A total of eight charges have been filed against Pantoja: aggravated battery, four counts of domestic battery and three counts of resisting a peace officer.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow submitted a petition to deny pretrial release for Pantoja. The document outlined the following events leading up to the arrest:

Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Joliet police were sent to Pantoja's house on the city's near west side after a caller notified police that Pantoja was hitting a woman and that he had been drinking alcohol. After 10 minutes of nobody answering the door or the phone, the front door opened and a woman exited. A Spanish-speaking Joliet police officer was on the scene to help translate the conversation.

The woman said Pantoja climbed on her in the bed and choked her. She grabbed Pantoja by his throat to get him off her.

The woman had red marks on her neck and a scratch to her chest. She also had scratches to her face and chest, blood in the corner of her mouth and her bottom lip was swollen.

"Nicholas was barefoot and offered three different types of shoes but refused to wear any of them," court documents show. "As officers were attempting to place Nicholas in the back of the squad, he stiffened his legs to prevent them from being bendable, pushing them against the rear partition."

According to the petition to deny bail, Pantoja refused to exit the squad car when Joliet police arrived with him at the Will County Jail. He had to be escorted out by multiple officers and carried into the jail, where he sat upright on the bench."

Joliet police noted that they found blood from Pantoja's toes on the rear floorboard of the squad car, prompting a Joliet Fire Department ambulance call. While waiting for the ambulance, Joliet police saw Pantoja sliding his bleeding toes along the floor of the jail, "creating a giant circle of blood on the floor."

Next, Pantjoa "intentionally wiped his toes on (the officer's) legs, which resulted in blood on his pants," the prosecution's petition informed the judge.