Fox River Grove teen accused of biting, spitting on Crystal Lake cops

An 18-year-old Fox River Grove woman allegedly bit two Crystal Lake police officers, spat on two and dug her fingernails into the hands and legs of another earlier this month, court records show.

Ellie G. Masukevich had gotten into her vehicle to leave the Target on Route 14 in Crystal Lake when a police officer approached her car with two other officers nearby, she said.

Police found her car after its license plate number had been reported for various alleged traffic violations, Masukevich said she was told.

Masukevich, of the 200 block of North River Road, was westbound on Route 14 at Pingree Road about 7 p.m. on Dec. 6 when, police allege, she was following too closely, improperly using lanes and failing to signal when required, according to the citations filed in court.

Masukevich said she was asked to get out of the car. An officer told her police were going to search her vehicle because they had seen alcohol inside, Masukevich told the Northwest Herald in an interview Tuesday.

She was then told she was being arrested for alleged possession of open alcohol and underage possession of alcohol, and she asked not to be handcuffed, Masukevich said.

Officers told her department policy required them to handcuff her, she said. When they attempted to handcuff her, she “freaked out,” Masukevich said.

The criminal complaint alleges that Masukevich became “combative” and resisted multiple police officers when they attempted to arrest her.

She is accused of aggravated battery to five separate police officers, biting two of them, spitting on two, grabbing the wrist of one multiple times and digging her fingernails into a fifth’s hands and legs, according to the complaint.

Masukevich also was charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, possessing open alcohol as the driver and underage possession of alcohol, according to the citations and criminal complaint.

The most serious charges Masukevich faces – aggravated battery to the police officers – are class 2 felonies, which can carry sentences of three to seven years in prison but are also probational.

Masukevich was released from jail on a personal recognizance bond, which if she fails to follow, would leave her owing the court $20,000, according to the order signed by McHenry County Judge David Gervais.