A 44-year-old Moline man, convicted previously of domestic battery, could face significant time in prison after he was charged with home invasion, aggravated domestic battery and other offenses in Brookfield on March 17.
Christopher Charles Lievens is accused of breaking down two doors to gain entry to the home of his ex-girlfriend and then physically assaulting her before a witness called police.
At a hearing Wednesday morning at the Maybrook courthouse, a Cook County judge set Lievens’ bond at $75,000. He will appear in court again for a preliminary hearing on March 26.
Brookfield police responded to the intersection of Raymond and Gerritsen avenues just after 12:15 p.m., after a motorist called 911 to report that he had seen a man throw a woman to the ground.
When police arrived, they reported seeing Lievens standing in the middle of the intersection attempting to confront the motorist. Lievens appeared disheveled, said police, smelled of alcohol and had blood on his hands, as if he had punched something. His former girlfriend, a 35-year-old Brookfield woman, stood across the street from Lievens when police arrived.
Lievens’ ex-girlfriend told police the two had broken off their six-month, on-again-off-again relationship on March 12. On March 15, Lievens began sending the woman text messages. And on March 17 about 11 a.m., Lievens showed up at the woman’s residence in the 4400 block of Madison Avenue, attempting to open the locked front door, yelling for her to open it and threatening to break it down, police said.
The woman hid in a closet, hoping Lievens would go away. When he called her on the phone, she told Lievens she was shopping. But Lievens reportedly continued to try to open doors and windows to the residence.
At noon, he allegedly kicked in the locked service door to the attached garage, at which point the woman ran to the front door to put on some boots. Lievens then allegedly kicked in an interior door and gained entry to the home.
He reportedly grabbed the woman near the front door, but she was able to make it outside where Lievens allegedly pushed her to the ground and started head-butting her. He also reportedly grabbed the woman’s cellphone and threw it against a brick wall, breaking it.
The woman broke free and began running away, but Lievens continued to grab her and drag her back home, said police. She called out to a neighbor who happened to be outside, but police arrived shortly afterward, contacted by the motorist.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Lievens with home invasion, a Class X felony, which carries a mandatory prison sentence of between six and 30 years, if convicted.
He was also charged with aggravated domestic battery, which is a Class 2 felony, and two counts of criminal damage to property.
According to police, Lievens was convicted of domestic battery in Rock Island County in 1999.
