Authorities said a Woodstock man with multiple prior domestic violence convictions struck a woman in the head with an object early Sunday and then told her she was “fine” and to just go to sleep.

Steven Torres, 48, was initially charged Sunday with misdemeanor domestic battery, records showed. But Monday, at his initial court appearance, Judge Cynthia Lamb informed him the charges were upgraded to domestic battery with at least four prior convictions, a Class 2 felony.

Conviction on a Class 2 felony carries a sentencing range of three to seven years in prison. If a judge finds Torres is extended-term eligible due to past convictions, he could face up to 14 years in prison if he is convicted on the latest charge.

McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller argued that Torres is dangerous and should be detained pretrial in the county jail. Lamb agreed.

Miller said that at about 3 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a home where a woman was found bleeding from a head wound. She told authorities Torres hit her in the head with a hatchet, then told her she was “fine” and to go to sleep, according to Miller’s account.

Torres then allegedly took away the woman’s cellphone so she couldn’t call for help; she fled to a neighbor’s home, but Torres followed behind her and told the neighbor “she’s fine,” the prosecutor said. Torres then fled and the neighbor let the woman in and called police, Miller said.

The violence has gotten worse, and she fears he will kill her, Miller said the woman told police.

However, Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said police did not find a hatchet, that Torres denies hitting the woman and that he told police the woman fell and hit her head in the bathroom while drunk.

In arguing for pretrial release Giesinger said Torres could be safely released with conditions including electronic monitoring by court services. He has a job and could stay with family in Carpentersville, ensuring he will stay away from the woman, the assistant public defender said.

In response, Miller called the attack “heinous” and said Torres poses “an extremely high level of dangerousness” and that Torres has “an extensive domestic violence background.” After hitting her with an object, causing a serious injury requiring medical attention, he “almost immediately began normalizing, minimizing ... downplaying” her injuries, Miller said.

When ruling Torres will be detained pretrial, Lamb noted his four prior domestic violence or domestic battery convictions, which McHenry County authorities said included misdemeanors in Kane County in 2003 and in McHenry County in 2019 and 2020, and a 2023 felony conviction in McHenry County.

However, according to Kane County court records and officials, Torres also has convictions in Kane County for felony aggravated domestic battery and felony domestic battery, both from 2011, as well as battery in 2003.