Lake in the Hills man gets prison for beating woman during police standoff

An attempted murder charge against a Lake in the Hills man was dismissed Tuesday in exchange for a guilty plea to aggravated domestic battery.

Daniel Swiderski, 31, was sentenced to three years in prison, according to a judgment order. Additional charges of unlawful restraint and interfering with the reporting of domestic battery were also dropped, the order filed in McHenry County court shows.

Just after midnight on May 27, Lake in the Hills police were called by a family member who did not live in the home but reported there was a domestic disturbance there, authorities said.

Police said they banged on the front and back doors several times and repeatedly announced their presence. For about an hour and a half, police investigated prior calls of disturbances at the address as they stood outside the home waiting for someone to come to the door or to hear a definitive scream for help, according to police bodycam video played during a hearing in the case. They could hear crying, yelling and stomping from inside the house, the footage showed.

Police waited because they did not have a search warrant, according to testimony during the hearing. But eventually, police heard the woman scream “help me” and quickly broke into the house through a back glass door. They ran to an upstairs bedroom, where they found Swiderski and the woman, the video showed.

Swiderski was holding the woman in the bedroom closet, and when police found her, she was crying and her face was bloodied, prosecutors said.

The defendant’s attorney had sought to have the footage withheld from his trial, arguing it was an illegal search based on the way police entered the home.

However, Judge Mark Gerhardt denied the motion to set aside the evidence, finding that police had “reasonable grounds” to believe it was an emergency and someone needed help.

According to the criminal complaint Swiderski punched and struck the woman in the face “multiple times with his fist and elbow.” He also was accused of wrapping his hands around her neck and squeezing “several times for multiple intervals for approximately one hour.”

Authorities said Swiderski is required to serve 85% of his prison time and will be on mandatory supervised release for four years.

Swiderski’s attorney could not be reached for comment.