Bond $40K for Elgin man on parole accused of choking out girlfriend

SYCAMORE – A DeKalb County judge set bond at $40,000 for an Elgin man accused of choking his girlfriend while on parole for a previous domestic battery.

Tyler R. Palmer, 25, of the 2200 block of Colorado Avenue, has been charged with three counts of domestic battery – one of them aggravated and carrying a potential prison sentence of three to seven years, which would be followed by four years of parole.

Police say in court records they responded about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the 300 block of Augusta Avenue, where Palmer’s girlfriend says he choked her until she passed out after an hourslong argument.

She said he slammed her on the bed by her neck at one point, and that after they kept arguing and she went to leave the bedroom, he put a chokehold on her from behind and kept it on until she blacked out; she awoke to him shaking her head violently, the records show.

She told police she and Palmer have been dating a year and a half, and that he’d been physical with her before.

Palmer was on schedule to complete four years of parole in July 2019 after he served a year and a month of a two-year prison sentence at Pontiac Correctional Center for a 2013 domestic battery in Kane County, according to Illinois Department of Corrections online records. Police say in court records he was convicted twice on that charge in Kane County, and Assistant State’s Attorney Monique Roberts said he also has a third violent crime conviction.

Public Defender Tom McCulloch asked Palmer whether he’d rather deal with the local case first, or the parole hold.

“I’d like to stay here and deal with this case first,” Palmer said.

Roberts asked Chief Judge Robbin Stuckert to set bond at $100,000, but Stuckert went with $40,000. If Palmer posts $4,000 and deals with the parole situation, he’ll be put on electronic home monitoring. He’s due back in court at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 29.