Judge dismisses domestic battery case against Joliet police detective

A Will County judge dismissed a domestic battery charge against a Joliet police detective after the victim in the case would not come forward.

Detective David Jackson’s jury trial was scheduled to begin Monday. Jackson was arrested in March on charges alleging he slammed his girlfriend to the ground at a residence in Crest Hill.

However, Special Prosecutor Bill Elward told Judge Ed Burmila that his girlfriend was not willing to come forward in the case. Elward said her son, who contacted the police after the incident, was not willing to appear in court either.

Elward told Burmila the alleged victim indicated that she wanted to put the case behind her.

Burmila dismissed the case due to no complaining witness.

After Monday’s court hearing, Jackson declined to comment on the outcome of the case.

Jackson’s attorney, Carla Alessio Policandriotes, said the case should have been dismissed months ago because there was substantial evidence suggesting Jackson was innocent. She said she didn’t want to say what that evidence is because Jackson still has an administrative hearing with the police department over the domestic battery allegations.

“I’m just happy this matter was resolved the way it needed to be,” Policandriotes said.

In March, Crest Hill police were called to the 1400 block of Root Street after receiving a report of a domestic battery and met there with Jackson’s girlfriend.

His girlfriend claimed that she and Jackson went to a bar, where they drank and gambled, but they got into an argument afterward about her spending money, according to Crest Hill police report.

When they arrived at her home, Jackson became upset and tried to get money she retrieved to “save her” from spending more money, and then “body slammed” her to the ground, according to the report.

The woman said she struggled to get Jackson off her, kicking him in the groin, striking him in the head with a glass and then throwing it at him but missing, according to the report. When she told Jackson she was going to call the police, he left the residence, according to the report.

Jackson claimed that his girlfriend suffered her injuries when she pushed him but fell and struck her head on the ground, according to the report.

Jackson’s girlfriend had filed a protective order against him in 2009. She later voluntarily withdrew her petition, according to court records.