Prosecutors say a man attacked a Lakeview woman who asked him to stop pleasuring himself on the street as she walked her dog. It happened on the 2000 block of West Belmont around 11:40 a.m. Wednesday, October 6, according to prosecutors.
“I saw a pregnant woman walking towards him and warned her,” the victim wrote on a neighborhood message board. “That’s when he proceeded to run at me with a closed fist and punched me in the head and I got knocked to the ground while still holding on to my dog.”
Assistant State’s Attorney John Gnilka said James Caesar, 26, punched the woman repeatedly and continued to punch her after she was on the ground. Bystanders intervened, and Caesar ran away, he said.
The woman showed the police a picture she took of the man, and cops located Caesar nearby. He punched one officer in the face and tried to bite another cop’s hand, according to Gnilka.
“I am very lucky it wasn’t much worse,” the woman said in her post. “Thank you to all my lovely neighbors!”
In June, Caesar was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery in the suburbs. A warrant was issued after he failed to show up for court on September 16, records show.
He is now charged with felony counts of aggravated battery of a police officer, resisting police, and aggravated assault of a police officer along with misdemeanor charges of battery and public indecency for the Lakeview case.
Judge Mary Marubio set bail at $5,000 on the new charges and $3,000 for the pending misdemeanor.
A public defender said Caesar is homeless. He lists a food pantry as his home address on court records.
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