Woman charged with punching, kicking, spitting on Joliet police officers

A woman was arrested Friday after she allegedly punched an officer in the face and fought with other officers at an apartment, police said.

At 3:16 a.m., Erica Steele, 36, was booked into the Will County jail after her arrest connected with the incident that took place in the 200 block of Wilcox Street. The woman has addresses listed in Joliet and Belleview.

Officers had gone to an apartment at that location earlier in response to a report of a person who was not wanted there, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said.

When officers arrived, they heard a loud disturbance inside the apartment and met with Gregory Woods, 62, of Joliet, who immediately became belligerent with the officers, English said.

Woods refused to cooperate and exit the apartment, English said.

A woman identified as Steele then came to the apartment door and yelled at the officers as well, English said.

“Officers noted that it appeared that Steele and Woods may have been involved in a fight prior to their arrival,” English said.

Steele tried to push an officer and then struck another officer in the face with a closed fist, English said.

Steele resisted officers’ attempts to place her into custody by pulling away and continuing to fight with them until she was arrested, English said.

Officers also tried to place Woods into custody, but he refused to let go of a nearby door, English said. He eventually was arrested after a brief struggle, English said.

Steele refused to cooperate with booking procedures at the Joliet Police Department before she was taken to jail, English said.

During Friday’s bond hearing, Judge Cory Lund told Steele she was charged with three counts of aggravated battery. Those charges accused her of punching one officer in the face, kicking another officer in the abdomen and spitting on a third officer, he said.

A prosecutor said at the hearing that Steele is listed as an absconder from the Florida Department of Corrections. The state agency listed Steele as an “absconder/fugitive” from the department’s supervision and noted that she was convicted of the offenses of uttering a forged instrument and grand theft.

Steele, who was crying at times during the hearing, said she is a veteran who was a sailor in the U.S. Navy and the mother of three children.

Lund told Steele he didn’t know the facts of the case or what provoked the incident, but she was charged with three felonies. He set her bond at $30,000, and she will need to post $3,000 for her release from jail.