A man accused of running over the mother of his children made his first appearance in court Thursday, more than a year after he was charged.
Charles Tolbert, 28, of East Chicago, pleaded not guilty Thursday to five charges, according to Lake County court records: battery commited with deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to person, battery with moderate injury, battery resulting in bodily injury and criminal recklessness.
The formal appearance hearing for Tolbert, who stood quietly while wearing glasses and a Lake County Jail uniform, lasted roughly a minute.
“I’m just so relieved,” Julena Jeffries said.
Jeffries cared for her daughter, Aneiceia Moore, as she recovered at Jeffries’ home from fractures to both hips and her pelvis, internal bleeding and cuts and bruises across her body in the weeks after she was run over, court records state.
Now more than a year later, Moore is “blessed” and doing much better, her mother, Jeffries said.
“She’s up and walking. She’s up and doing everything,” Jeffries said.
Moore was returning to her apartment in the 3800 block of Ontario Court in East Chicago in the early morning hours on Nov. 25, 2016, after celebrating Thanksgiving Day with her family, when Tolbert, the father of her two children, said he was leaving in her car, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Moore refused to let him take her car, but Tolbert got her car keys and started driving after she climbed onto the hood of the 2003 Pontiac Bonneville, the affidavit states.
A witness told police it appeared Tolbert was deliberately trying to get the woman to fall from the hood by swerving as he drove from the apartment complex, records state. After the woman fell to the ground, Tolbert ran over her, records state. A neighbor ran to check on the woman, but Tolbert picked up Moore, put her in the car and told the neighbor that everything was cool, records state.
Moore told police when Tolbert drove to the area of 5th Avenue and Tennessee Street in Gary, she cut him two or three times in the face and neck with a box cutter, documents said. He stopped the car and she rolled into the street, where a passerby stopped to check on her. Tolbert said Moore was fine and the stranger drove away, court documents said.
Police came in contact with Moore about 2:20 a.m., court records state, and she was transported to Methodist Hospital in Gary and then flown to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., for treatment.
Tolbert was charged in January 2017, and a warrant was served for his arrest on March 8, more than a year after he was charged, records show.
Before Tolbert was placed in custody, Jeffries said she and Moore worried for Moore’s safety.
“She’s feeling safe now, so thank God for that,” Jeffries said.
Tolbert is scheduled to appear in court again May 3, according to court records.
