A Chicago man on parole for a handgun violation has been charged in Lake Superior Court with criminal confinement, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and domestic battery committed in the presence of children.
Police were called shortly before 3 a.m. July 6 to the 400 block of North Lake Street in Gary, where they heard a woman screaming and drove south on Lake Street to discover a woman on the hood of a gray Chrysler 300, screaming for the man to stop, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police stopped the car, which was driven by Cortez Harrington, 23, of 309 E. 69th St., Chicago.
The woman said Harrington, who had been drinking, came to her apartment and became upset because he saw that her car seat was laid back, the probable cause affidavit states. The woman said she found out that he was spending more time with his girlfriend’s children and his girlfriend than with their children together. They began arguing and Harrington mentioned a phone, so the woman told police she took his phone and threw it out of the window, records state.
Cortez struck the woman as she tried to leave, the probable cause affidavit states. Every time she tried to go to the door he would hit her and she would fall to the ground, records state. The woman said she grabbed his pants and tried to rip them, and he bit her on the arm, records state.
She got out of the apartment, but he dragged her back inside, documents state. She managed to leave a second time, and he chased after her and her children, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. Harrington then broke the window to her car and put their 2-year-old inside his car, documents state. The woman said she got on the hood of the car and Harrington started driving down Lake Street, records state.
The woman was treated at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary and received eight stitches to her left eyebrow. Her injuries also included bruising to her face, arms and legs, and scratches on her legs and feet. The woman’s bottom lip was cut and swollen and she had a bruised bite mark on her upper right arm and two other bite marks on her back.
The most serious of the charges is a Level 3 felony, which is punishable by three to 16 years.
Harrington was sentenced in 2014 to three years in prison in Illinois for unlawful possession of a weapon.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
