Inset: Benjamin Schroeder (WTVO/Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department). Background: The 100 block of Lawrence Street in Cherry Valley, Ill., where Benjamin Schroeder’s alleged “blunt” attack unfolded (Google Maps).
An Illinois man was arrested for allegedly attacking a pregnant woman with a lit “blunt” — also known as a marijuana cigar — which he allegedly forced her to swallow in a strange midday assault that also saw him try to clean the victim’s feet for some reason, cops say.
“I need to wash your feet,” Benjamin Schroeder, 25, allegedly told the woman before forcing her to take down the scorching hot cigar, which left burns in her throat, according to the local ABC affiliate WTVO.
It’s unclear what Schroeder’s relationship is to the woman, with police describing the March 10 incident as a domestic battery. The victim told authorities that she had been strangled and burned by Schroeder two days before his blunt attack. The two of them live together in the 100 block of Lawrence Street in Cherry Valley, which is about 75 miles northwest of Chicago up toward the Wisconsin border.
According to police, the woman said she was in bed when Schroeder set upon her at around noon and dragged her by the wrists to an upstairs bathroom.
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Once there, he started allegedly choking her and informed the woman about her feet needing to be washed before his attack, WTVO reports. Doctors treated the victim for burns in her throat; her baby was unharmed.
Schroeder, who was arrested in Wisconsin by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery causing bodily harm and aggravated battery causing strangulation. He was granted pretrial release on Tuesday and is awaiting his first court date.
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