Man charged with assault on 13-year-old son
A Chicago man has been charged in Lake Superior Court in connection with an assault last month on his 13-year-old son.
Nicholas D. Whitiker, 32, is charged with aggravated battery, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, battery on a person less than 14 and domestic battery involving the 13-year-old boy, who had two teeth knocked out on June 8 and who had cuts to his lips that required stitches.
The boy told police he was spending the weekend at a friend’s home in Hammond when he was called to the front door to find his father and grandmother. The boy told police he has little interaction with his father. The boy said as soon as he stepped onto the enclosed front porch, Whitiker began hitting him and punching him in the chest, court records state. The boy was knocked down into a chair, where Whitiker continued to punch him repeatedly in the face, records state.
The boy was taken by ambulance to St. Margaret Mercy in Hammond. He was to undergo emergency dental surgery to repair damage done to his bottom teeth and try to save an upper loose tooth.
Aggravated battery is a Level 3 felony, which is punishable by three to 16 years.
Lansing man accused of child molesting
Child molesting charges have been filed in Lake Superior Court against a Lansing, Ill., man involving a 13-year-old girl.
Adam Jose Saucedo, 21, is charged with molesting the girl between July 2014 and April 2015 at a residence on Grover Avenue in Hammond where the girl had been staying.
The most serious of the charges is a Level 1 felony, which is punishable by 20 to 40 years.
Probation for drugs, nonsupport of parent
Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas sentenced a Hammond man to 30 months on probation on Thursday for possession of cocaine and nonsupport of a parent.
Kenneth Mulholland, 54, admitted in court that he had cocaine in his possession on April 9, which was documented by an agent of the Hammond police with audio and video recordings. When Hammond police investigators executed a search warrant on April 17, police found Mulholland’s mother lying on the couch, soaked in her own urine. The woman was unable to remove herself from the couch or otherwise care for herself without substantial help from others. Mulholland admitted that he was aware his mother was in an unsanitary condition and required support and assistance, but failed to provide it to her.
As a condition of his probation, Mulholland must enroll in and successfully complete drug and alcohol treatment. If he successfully completes probation, he can seek to have his felony conviction for possession of cocaine reduced to a misdemeanor.
A charge of dealing in cocaine, a Level 4 felony punishable by two to 12 years, was dismissed.
Gary man on bond charged in new drug case
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell ordered a Gary man arrested and held without bond after he was charged in two new cases while free on bond in a drug-dealing case.
Terrance Marcell Daniels, 24, was placed on probation in January 2014 for theft, then charged nine months later with dealing in cocaine, court records state. While he was free on bond in the dealing case, he was charged June 18 with dealing in marijuana, a Level 6 felony punishable by six months to 30 months. Lake Station police recovered about 126 gross grams of marijuana during the arrest, court records state. He also has a new case pending in Gary City Court.
Defense attorney Jamise Perkins told the judge her client has “a W-2 job, a real job,” that he landed on Wednesday and had taken steps to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma. “With all due candor to the court, this young man has a drug problem,” Perkins said. Perkins asked that Daniels be allowed to pay for the cost of electronic monitoring so he could work, support his son and continue trying to earn his diploma.
Boswell, however, was not convinced. “All those good things he’s doing, that just tells me he’s a multitasker,” Boswell said.
Boswell said Daniels will be held without bond. His next court appearance in Aug. 4.
— Ruth Ann Krause
