Cary man accused of strangling a child last year jailed on new DUI, resisting charges

A Cary man already facing charges alleging he “strangled” a child and drove drunk with two children was jailed Wednesday after a McHenry County judge heard he recently was hit with new DUI and resisting arrest charges.

Island Lake police charged Ryan Poltzer, 43, on Oct. 27, with driving under the influence and resisting a police officer, Class A misdemeanors, McHenry County court records show.

Police allegedly found Poltzer in the driver’s seat of his vehicle parked outside his house at 7:50 a.m. and asked him to come to the police station. Police said they smelled alcohol inside his vehicle and that he showed other signs of intoxication, records show.

He also refused a field sobriety test, allegedly admitted to drinking alcohol and ran into his garage, according to an order from Judge Tiffany Davis revoking his pretrial release.

Police arrested him and a search of his vehicle turned up 12 open cans of an alcoholic beverage, according to the order.

Poltzer was charged with these offenses while out on cash bond for aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, as well as aggravated battery and two counts of endangering the life or health of a child, according to the indictment.

The incidents for which he was charged in that case allegedly occurred in December 2022, court records show. According to the indictment against Poltzer, prosecutors alleged he strangled a child.

He’s also accused of driving a vehicle while drinking alcohol with two child passengers, according to the indictment. He also is charged with domestic battery for an incident that allegedly occurred in January, court records show.

On Feb. 16, Poltzer was arrested and charged and posted $5,000 of a $50,000 bond the next day and was released from the county jail. These charges were filed before the SAFE-T Act, which does not require cash to be posted for pretrial release, took effect in September.

On Wednesday, Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien argued that his pretrial bond should be revoked, citing his latest misdemeanor charges as violations of conditions of his release, according to the petition.

In revoking his bond, Davis acknowledged court testimony that Poltzer has completed inpatient treatment at Rosecrance, and that intensive outpatient treatment is recommended.

However, she also considered the “severity of the incidents” in the domestic cases and the possibility of a relapse and sent him to the county jail.

He is due back in court Jan. 3. An attempt to reach his attorney for comment was unsuccessful.