Coffee-throwing suspect may undergo psychiatric examination
A homeless McHenry County man charged with throwing hot coffee in the face of a Starbucks barista may soon undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
The lawyer for Jonathan A. Pease said he is considering the evaluation after he pleaded not guilty Friday to aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal damage to property charges filed after the Nov. 14 incident. Pease is homeless, living at the PADS shelter in Woodstock, but recently has lived in Crystal Lake and Round Lake.
"We may have him evaluated to keep our options open for what we can do with him and to get him help if he needs it," assistant McHenry County Public Defender Jason Majer said.
Pease could face up to five years in prison if found guilty of the aggravated battery charges, which allege he caused second-degree burns to the female Starbucks employee during the early morning incident last month.
Court records indicate this is not the first time Pease has faced a felony charge for throwing hot coffee on someone. In 2006, records show, Pease was arrested and charged with aggravated battery for throwing coffee onto a worker at a behavioral health facility in Woodstock.
He later pleaded the case down to misdemeanor battery, was placed on 18 months probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment.
In the more recent incident, police said an "agitated and irrational" Pease walked into the business about 7 a.m. Nov. 14 and demanded coffee and a roll. After a barista handed him a cup of coffee, Pease sat down in the shop and continued to behave erratically, police said.
When a second worker approached in an effort to calm him, police said, Pease threw coffee in the woman's face and began knocking items off a shop counter until a pair of off-duty officers in the business by coincidence detained him.
The woman, police said, suffered first- and second-degree burns to her face and upper body.
Pease, in custody at the McHenry County jail on $51,000 bond, is scheduled to return to court Jan. 4 for a pretrial status hearing.