A Marengo man screwed shut a door of his apartment to keep anyone from coming in or out as a woman inside cried for help, McHenry County prosecutors allege.
Timmothy Ray, 25, is charged with intimidation by physical confinement or restraint, unlawful restraint, domestic battery and interfering with reporting domestic violence, according to the criminal complaint in the McHenry County court.
Ray was arrested about 1 p.m. Monday. He made his initial court appearance Tuesday, when Judge Cynthia Lamb found he was dangerous and denied his pretrial release from county jail.
Ray grabbed the alleged victim by her wrists, “threw her to the ground in a back room of the apartment in an attempt to secure her in this room and stop her from leaving or calling for help,” Lamb said.
Ray is accused of taking the woman’s cellphone and throwing it out a window. Neighbors heard the woman cry for help and called police, the judge and Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said.
Miller said a “complete stranger” who heard her crying through the wall and asking for help made the call. Had that not happened, “we would not have known about these actions,” the prosecutor said, adding Ray is “a very high level of dangerousness.”
Ray also allegedly screwed shut a door of the residence. When police arrived, Ray used a tool to remove the screw and let them in, the judge and Miller said. Police reported a strong smell of alcohol on Ray’s breath and saw the woman who had marks on her wrist leaning against a wall, according to authorities.
“Therefore, this Defendant poses a real and present danger to the safety of a person, persons or the community based on those specific articulable facts,” Lamb said adding there are no conditions that could mitigate that threat.
In arguing for Ray’s pretrial release, Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said Ray could be fitted with a GPS and stay with family in Wisconsin. He noted the alleged victim refused medical treatment and said Ray has no access to weapons and does not have any “violent history” but does have substance abuse issues that “might have played a role in this case.”
Ray is due back in court March 2.