Elgin cops: Woman attacked driver with bottle

A driver on the east side of Elgin this morning forgot some key advice: don't pick up strangers, especially close to 3 in the morning.

He did, and had a close encounter with a bottle and several stitches to the head to show for it.

Josette Green-Hicks, 38, of the 8400 block of South May Street, Chicago, faces charges of aggravated battery and armed violence.

The incident began shortly before 2:44 a.m. when a man picked up Hicks, who first said she wanted a ride to the train station, police said.

But the woman later changed her mind, asking the man to drive her to Chicago instead.

"He refused," said Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda. "She began hitting him in the head with a bottle of some sort that she pulled out of her purse."

Swoboda said the driver managed to into a gas station at Summit Street and Dundee Avenue to get help.

There, an off-duty police officer was present and helped detain Hicks until uniformed officers arrived. The male driver needed "several" stitches, Swoboda said.

Bond was set at 10 percent of $10,000 this morning. If convicted, the most serious felony carries a three- to seven-year prison term, but four years of probation also is an option.