DeKalb man charged with injuring 2 Geneva officers after refusing to wear mask

GENEVA – A DeKalb man – who refused to wear a mask or be tested while at the hospital – was charged with resisting and obstructing police causing injury to two Geneva officers while at the hospital, police and court records show.

Anthony M. Jaques, 21, of the 600 block of Larson Court, DeKalb, was charged July 28 with two counts of felony resisting a police officer causing injury and misdemeanor trespass to a building.

Police were called to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva at 3:14 a.m. because Jaques refused to comply with the hospital’s COVID-19 masking and testing procedures while he was in the labor and delivery wing – in that he refused to wear a mask or to be tested, reports stated.

Jaques was told the hospital’s policy in the presence of officers, but he again refused to comply. He was told to leave the hospital building, but he refused, and was told he would be under arrest for trespassing, reports stated.

Jaques then refused to stand from his seated position and began pulling his arms away from officers, requiring them to position his hands behind him by force in order for handcuffs to be placed, reports stated.

As officers walked him down a hallway, Jaques lifted both his legs, resulting in the officers having to carry him, reports stated.

Then Jaques wrapped his right leg around one officer’s leg causing him to fall and injure his right hand. This also caused the other officer to fall, both sustaining injuries to their right hands and one officer’s left elbow, reports stated.

Because Jaques refused to stand, officers lifted him up and placed him in a wheelchair, escorting him out of the hospital and to booking at the police department without further incident reports stated.

The two charges of obstructing police causing injury are the most serious, both Class 4 felonies punishable by one to three years in prison and fines up to $25,000, if convicted.

As a condition of his bond, Jaques was ordered to stay away from Delnor.

Jaques is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.