Boyfriend Accused of Choking Estranged Girlfriend While Holding Their Baby

A Chicago man was arrested after he choked his ex-girlfriend while holding their 1-year-old baby, then violently shook her 7-year-old son from another relationship, prosecutors said.

Cesar Juarez, 39, appeared before Cook County Judge Donald Havis on felony charges of Class X home invasion and aggravated domestic battery. Juarez was also charged with misdemeanor domestic battery.

According to the charges, Juarez showed up at his ex-girlfriend’s home in Orland Park around 7 a.m. Feb. 22. The woman had started her vehicle in the home’s attached garage and was about to drive her 7-year-old son to the school bus stop. When she opened the garage door, Juarez was standing in the driveway holding their 1-year-old child.

The prosecutor said Juarez began yelling at her about text messages and demanded that she get out of the car. The woman refused so Juarez allegedly picked up a flower pot.

The woman was afraid that Juarez was going to throw the flower pot at her vehicle. Instead, Juarez threw the pot on to the ground, the prosecutor said.

When she got out of the car Juarez, still holding the baby, allegedly grabbed her around the neck and began to choke her. The prosecutor said the woman felt as if she was going to pass out and sustained injuries to her neck.

As she lay across the front seat of the car, her 7-year-old son began kicking and hitting his mother’s ex-boyfriend. The prosecutor said Juarez grabbed the boy and began shaking him violently.

The woman was able to escape and drove to the Orland Park police department, where she filed a police report.

The prosecutor told the judge that Juarez has a previous domestic battery arrest from 2015 in Will County. He also asked for special conditions of bond, including no contact with the woman or the children, by phone, letter, text or social media.

Juarez’s attorney told the judge that her client is a union sheet metal worker. She claimed that the ex-girlfriend sent Juarez text messages telling him to come over.

“He has custody of their child for half the week,” Juarez’s attorney said. “My client wants the same [special] conditions.”

She also questioned the allegations, stating, “how could he do all that fighting while holding a flower pot.”

The attorney said she had arranged for Juarez to turn himself into Orland Park police.

“He was dropping the younger boy off for day care.”

The judge set bail at $150,000. Juarez’s next court date is March 20 in Bridgeview. Juarez was later brought out where he was served an court order of protection in court.