Riverside man charged with domestic violence, resisting arrest

A Riverside man was charged April 21 with aggravated felony domestic violence after he reportedly choked a woman after an argument.

Vicente Hernandez Jr., 23, of the 2800 block of South Harlem Avenue, also was charged with interfering with reporting domestic violence and two counts of resisting arrest, police said.

About 8:35 p.m., police received multiple 911 calls reporting a disturbance outside an apartment building in the 2800 block of South Harlem Avenue. A woman who called 911 kept getting cut off, but dispatch personnel could hear screaming and yelling in the background. The 911 center received additional phone calls from people in the apartment reporting a fight behind the building near the alley.

During the fight, Hernandez reportedly knocked the phone out of the female victim’s hand twice in an attempt to keep her from calling police. The 36-year-old victim from Stickney was injured, including red marks around her neck, clumps of hair laying on the alley pavement, and bruises on her head, face, biceps, arms and throughout her body, police said.

When police arrived, they found Hernandez beating the victim. She was half in and out of a car, and there were two small children in the back seat, police said. Police immediately took protective custody of the children, who were turned over to a relative after police cleared the release with the Department of Children and Family Services.

Police intervened, and a fight ensued between Hernandez and the officers, police said. Police had to physically restrain Hernandez to get him into custody, police said.

An investigation revealed the couple had been in a park located between Stickney and Riverside when an argument occurred in the car about losing their car keys in the park. When they arrived in Riverside, the fight continued and escalated into a physical confrontation, police said.

Hernandez slammed a car door on the victim, punched, kicked, pulled her hair and attempted to strangle her, police said.

The victim refused to be taken to the hospital but was treated at the scene by paramedics, police said.

While being transported to central booking, Hernandez threatened to shoot the police officer in the head, fought with the officers and threatened the officers’ family, authorities said.

Police contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney Felony Review Unit and reviewed the case with them for felony prosecution. Police contacted DCFS to reference the situation because children were present during the attack.

“Make no doubt about it, this was a serious domestic battery arrest,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement. “The victim was severely injured and continues to be recovering from her injuries at home. ... The offender had just been arrested in March by the Summit Police Department for domestic battery, and in that case, he also attempted to choke this same victim. The case was dropped in court and not prosecuted. The victim told the arresting officers and detectives she was never informed of the court date due to the pandemic and somehow or another lost when she was supposed to be at court, and then the court system dropped her case. The pandemic has devastated the Cook County criminal justice system every day since March of 2021, and it’s still ongoing.”

Hernandez’s criminal history includes domestic battery, assault, obstructing the police, invasion of privacy and disorderly conduct. He has been arrested in Illinois and Indiana, police said.