Armed Alabama Man Flees Skokie Hotel After Beating, Prosecutors Say

SKOKIE, IL — Authorities said an Alabama man beat and bloodied a 22-year-old woman in a Skokie hotel room Wednesday before fleeing to hide his illegal gun.

Montez Knight, 28, of Louisville, Alabama, was arrested around 11:30 a.m. outside of the Extended Stay hotel, 5211 Old Orchard Road, according to Skokie police and Cook County prosecutors. He has been charged felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor domestic battery.

Knight began to pull the woman's hair during an argument, ripping several braids out of her head, Assistant State's Attorney Gina Pensa said Thursday during a bond hearing. Pensa said he struck the woman repeatedly while holding her down, causing her eyebrow ring to tear and knocking out a contact lens.

"[Knight] then let [the woman] stand up, and she was able to call the front desk and request that they call the police," Pensa said. "[He] then left with a red University of Alabama backpack."

Officers arrived to find woman bleeding and her torn-out braids in the hotel room. She informed them that Knight had left the room with a gun, and officers found the backpack in bushes outside, near the hotel's Dumpster, the prosecutor said.

Along with a folding Keltec 9mm gun, the bag contained a 38-round extended clip and ammunition, according to Pensa, although the gun was not loaded at the time.

Knight waived his constitutional right against self-incrimination and admitted owning the gun and stashing the backpack in the bushes in the hopes of retrieving it later, according to Pensa.

She said Knight also told investigators that he had pushed the woman during an argument, causing her to fall.

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According to the Assistant Public Defender Jarnail Kanda, Knight works in construction remodeling houses and has two children.

Cook County Associate Judge John Calabrese ordered Knight held unless he provides the $5,000 cash portion of his bail. Knight was ordered not to have any contact with the woman and not to possess any dangerous weapon should he be released ahead of trial.

"The allegations here are extraordinarily violent," Calabrese said. "To make the situation worse, [Knight] is alleged to have carried with him a weapon that could easily have been loaded that was easily accessible to him as he fled from the consequences of the conduct alleged."