Man Pounded Woman's Head Into Burger King Wall: Prosecutor

JOLIET ? It appears that 39-year-old Michael E. Nelson will be spending his Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the Will County Jail now that Will County Judge Donald DeWilkins has determined that Nelson's latest arrest at the Burger King restaurant along Route 30 near the Louis Joliet Mall shows that he meets the dangerous standard to be held before his trial.

A Woodridge transplant who has been in the Joliet area for quite some time now, Nelson was arrested this week by Joliet police on two charges of aggravated battery and two counts of domestic battery and one count of violation of pretrial release.

According to the Will County State's Attorney's Office petition to deny his pretrial release, at 1:20 p.m. Sunday, Joliet police were called to the Burger King at 3130 Plainfield Road for a domestic incident in progress. The victim told the officers that she and Nelson had an argument and Nelson was accusing her of cheating on him.

When she got out of her vehicle to walk away from Nelson, he pulled her hair and threw her into the wall of the Burger King restaurant, court documents allege. She hurt her head and was injured. The Joliet Fire Department sent an ambulance to Burger King and felt a bump on her head, but she refused to be taken to the hospital or any further medical attention, court documents note.

According to prosecutors, "this defendant accused the victim of cheating on him. As she attempted to remove herself from the argument, this defendant followed her, grabbed her by the hair and threw her into a wall in a public parking lot."

Nelson was already on pretrial release in Will County on charges of aggravated battery in a public place "with the same victim," prosecutors told the judge. "This defendant is clearly a threat to this victim, as he not only faces the charges in this matter, but also has a pending felony case with this same victim."

On May 3, a Will County judge ordered Nelson to have no further contact with the victim. "He has done so by attacking her in this matter. It is clear that court orders will not prevent him contacting and attacking this victim," argued Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Dilday.

In May, Joliet Patch published a crime story about Nelson headlined: 10 Charges For Man Who Lives At The Crest Hill Inn On Route 30.

According to that story, members of the Crest Hill Police Department were looking for Crest Hill Inn resident Nelson in connection with a violent incident that happened earlier in the year.

Nelson faces six counts of aggravated battery and four counts of domestic battery in that case. The criminal complaint indicates that Nelson struck the woman on Feb. 26 in the head, kicked her about the body, pushed her, bit her on the head and hit her in the head.