Crime & Safety
Western Avenue Man Detained In Will County Jail After Children Knocked Down, Struck: Cops
Max Michel, 32, said he was discharged from the military in January and needed a break from his wife and children, prosecutors advised.
JOLIET, IL — The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow is hoping to keep a 32-year-old Joliet man, who just finished his military service in January, detained in the Will County Jail following his Joliet police arrest over the weekend on two crimes of aggravated battery and two crimes of domestic battery.
Max Michel has remained in the Will County Jail since Saturday. According to his petition to deny pretrial release, at 6:30 a.m., the Joliet police responded to the 200 block of Western for a domestic disturbance in an upstairs apartment unit. Responding officers heard crying in the lower level bedroom area and they saw Michel, the defendant, "who appeared highly agitated, sweating profusely and breathing heavily and was barefoot," court documents show.
The Joliet police also found a woman and her two children ages 2 and 4 and all three of them were crying.
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The woman told the officers that Michel had just moved into the apartment on Western Avenue after being in Florida. The woman wanted Michel to stay at a hotel on Friday night and on early Saturday morning, he returned and began banging on the door, court documents indicate.
The woman told Joliet police that when she opened the door, Michel pushed through the apartment and he punched her in the head and threw a toy at her face. The officers saw scrapes on both of the woman's knees plus bruising on her lower back. The woman indicated that the two children were also struck and knocked down as Michel pushed her around the house. The 2-year-old had a cut to his foot and the 4-year-old had scrapes on her knees.
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Joliet police spoke with Michel at the time of his arrest and he "stated he was discharged from the military back in January and that he needed a break from his wife and children. Max confirmed he used marijuana and alcohol. While at booking, Max portrayed unusual and erratic behavior," prosecutors revealed.
As of Monday, Michel remained in the Will County Jail. A hearing on his pretrial detention petition was set to occur later in the afternoon.
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