Red-Handed -- Man Who Attacked Prostitute ID'd Through Bloody Hand She Had Bitten: Cops

An Ottawa man who attacked a Backpage prostitute in a Joliet motel was nabbed when he sought treatment for the bleeding hand she had bitten to get away from him, police said.

Earl Pugh, 22, was taken into custody Thursday morning at Presence St. Joseph Medical Center.

Pugh had gone to the Budget Inn Express on McDonough Street to have sex with a Mazon prostitute he contacted through the website Backpage, police said. The prostitute had reportedly just finished up with another customer before meeting Pugh downstairs and escorting him up to her room.

Pugh then allegedly grabbed the 24-year-old woman from behind, strangling her and striking her. The woman reportedly broke free by biting Pugh’s hand and attempting to gouge his face. She also flipped him over her back before fleeing the room.

The woman ran into a male friend who was outside smoking a cigarette. The pair took off in the smoking man’s car and headed over to Rockdale, where they got lost.

The woman and her male companion reportedly flagged down a Rockdale cop who called for an ambulance to take her to St. Joe’s. The prostitute reportedly told the law they would be able to identify her attacker by his wounded hand, which police said she bit “really good” and “severely.”

Soon after, the cops reportedly got a call that a man with a badly bitten hand was at a gas station on South Larkin Avenue. Pugh was taken by ambulance to St. Joe’s and the police caught up with him in the emergency room.

Pugh at first claimed he hurt his hand while reaching for something on the floor of his car but then admitted the prostitute bit it, police said. Pugh reportedly claimed the prostitute was trying to rob him and he was merely defending himself.

Pugh was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery and taken to the Will County jail.