Cary man pleads guilty to strangling child, sentenced to 4 years probation
A Cary man pleaded guilty Wednesday to strangling a child and was sentenced to four years of felony probation with special conditions, according to McHenry County court records.
Ryan A. Poltzer, 43, pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to one count of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, which can carry between three and seven years in prison but also is probational.
In exchange for his plea, additional charges were dismissed, including aggravated battery and two counts of causing the life or health of a child to be endangered, records show.
Poltzer also was ordered to be fitted with a secure continuous remote alcohol monitor, also known as a SCRAM device, for 120 days; abstain from and be tested for drugs and alcohol during his probation; and to have no contact with the child named as the victim in the charges against him, sentencing documents show.
He also was given credit for 59 days spent in the county jail. He was released Thursday morning, according to the jail log.
Prosecutors alleged that in December 2022, Poltzer strangled a child, impeding their normal breathing by “applying pressure to the neck or throat,” according to the indictment.
He also was accused of driving a vehicle while drinking alcohol with two child passengers, according to the indictment and criminal complaint.
While out of county jail on these charges pretrial, Poltzer was charged by Island Lake police with driving under the influence and resisting an officer, according to court records.
At about 7:50 a.m. Oct. 27, police allege they found Poltzer in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, parked outside his home, records show.
They said he refused to submit to a field sobriety test, admitted to drinking alcohol and ran into his garage. Police also said they found open cans of alcohol in his vehicle.
As part of the negotiated plea, the resisting charge was dismissed. The driving under the influence charge, a Class A misdemeanor, remains pending, records show.