One day after a Cook County judge ignored a recommendation to impose “maximum conditions” on Michael Riddle during a bond court hearing, Riddle was arrested again Thursday — for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend 14 times as she sat on a couch next to her young child.
Judge David Navarro allowed Riddle to get out of jail by posting just $1,000 bond after prosecutors accused him of trying to carjack a woman this week. Navarro made the decision just minutes after the court’s pre-trial services officer advised that “maximum conditions are recommended” for Riddle’s release.
On Thursday night, Riddle watched TV with his girlfriend, the mother of his 5-month-old child, at her home in Grand Crossing. The woman’s three-year-old daughter was also on the couch when Riddle began looking for his phone charger, according to prosecutors.
When the woman told him where the charge was, he allegedly attacked her. The woman’s screams drew the attention of her mother, who also lives in the home.
Prosecutors said the woman’s mother found Riddle stabbing her adult daughter repeatedly with a knife as the victim tried to fight him off. The younger woman shielded her 3-year-old daughter as Riddle continued stabbing her, according to allegations made during a bond hearing Saturday.
Riddle, 24, then stabbed the older woman when she placed her body between him and her daughter, prosecutors said.
Police bodyworn cameras were rolling as officers allegedly found Riddle sitting on some steps with a bloody knife as they arrived at the scene. Blood was streaming down his neck because he had stabbed himself during the altercation, according to prosecutors. A second knife was found at the scene of the attack.
An ambulance took both women and Riddle to hospitals for treatment. The younger woman received 14 knife wounds to her head, neck, chest, back, hands, knees, legs, and face, prosecutors said.
On Saturday, Riddle remained hospitalized as he was charged with felony attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Navarro, who was again presiding in bond court Saturday, set bail in the new case at $1 million and ordered Riddle held without bail for violating the terms of bond in the carjacking case.
Earlier this week, prosecutors told Navarro that Riddle tried to carjack a 23-year-old woman at a BP gas station in the 3100 block of South Michigan. Around 2 p.m. Monday, Riddle allegedly walked up to the woman at a gas pump, held his hand under his shirt as if he had a gun, and told her to drop her keys.
The woman dropped the keys and, believing he had a firearm, ran into the gas station to call for help, prosecutors said Wednesday. According to the state, Riddle picked up the woman’s keys, then apparently changed his mind and ran from the scene. Cops found him nearby, and the alleged victim identified him as the man to tried to carjack her. Surveillance cameras at the gas station recorded the incident, according to prosecutors.
Riddle completed parole in June after serving one year for unlawful use of a weapon, an assistant state’s attorney told Navarro.
The judge, who had been advised to set “maximum conditions” for Riddle minutes earlier, allowed Riddle to go home without electronic monitoring by posting 10% of a $10,000 bail order — $1,000 — Wednesday afternoon.
“I better not see you in front of me on any new cases,” Navarro said as Riddle’s carjacking hearing concluded.
On Saturday, not long after hearing about how Riddle allegedly violated bail by violently stabbing a woman, Navarro heard new allegations of attempted carjacking against a different man in a new case.
Navarro set bail for that man at $10,000, too. He’ll also need just $1,000 to get out of jail.
