Police: Mom encouraged daughter to fight teen

As a parent, an Elgin mother had a responsibility to talk her teenage daughter out of fighting another girl.

But instead, police say, on April 2 Anita R. Joost, 46, encouraged her 16-year-old daughter to fight another girl and drove her there for that purpose. The daughter obeyed her mother, police say, and bloodied the other girl's mouth.

According to a police report, Joost's daughter told her mother that a 15-year-old girl with whom she had issues at school, wanted to meet her at Shadow Hill Park — on the 300 block of Cassidy Lane — to discuss their problems.

But the daughter said she was not interested in talking. Police reports said she told her mother she wanted to attack the other girl and Joost agreed to drive her to the park for that reason.

According to police:

Once at the park, the girls began talking but at one point Joost told her daughter to “Kick her (butt).” Her daughter tried to get the girl to fight by calling her names and getting in her face.

But the 15-year-old refused to fight and when that happened, Joost began recording and taking photographs of the confrontation with her cellphone. After that, Joost called one of the girls watching the confrontation and told her to tell her daughter to either hit the girl or leave. The daughter then pushed the girl down, punched her and pulled her hair. After the girls pulled away from each other, Joost threatened the other girl, police said.

Police say both Joost and her daughter admitted their involvement in the fight during an interview Thursday morning. Police also have recordings of the events leading up to and including the fight.

Joost, of the 11N500 block of Hunter Trail, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Class 2 felony and of aggravated battery in a public way, a Class 3 felony.

Her daughter was charged with felony aggravated battery in a public way and was being detained at the Kane County Youth Home.

Joost's bail was set at $50,000 Thursday morning, which means she needs $5,000 to get out of jail while her case is pending. As of Thursday afternoon, Joost remained in the Kane County jail.

She is scheduled to appear in court on May 9. If found guilty of the Class 2 felony, she could spend between three and seven years in prison, receive up to four years probation or a $25,000 fine.