Minooka Man Charged in I-55 Chain Attack Released After Judge Denies State Bid to Hold Him
Aurelius Lennon-Rios is charged with aggravated and domestic battery after prosecutors say he used a chain from his truck to strike a woman along Interstate 55.
By Stephen Collins ·
MINOOKA, IL: An associate Will County judge on Sunday released a 26-year-old Minooka man charged in a chain attack along Interstate 55 after the State's Attorney's Office asked the court to deny him pretrial release. Judge Joan Meyers set the next hearing for Nov. 16 in Courtroom 405 and ordered Aurelius Lennon-Rios to wear electronic monitoring and have no contact with the woman involved. He was booked into Will County's Jail at 7:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, and released at 1:21 p. Sunday.
Lennon-Rios, who lives with his parents in the 300 block of Prairie Ridge Drive, faces two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of domestic battery. Prosecutors filed a petition to deny release under the SAFE-T-Act, and the state argued the case met the law's dangerous standard.
Illinois State Police troopers responded Saturday to I-55 and Arsenal Road for a reported domestic problem. The woman told them her boyfriend attacked her as the two drove from Wilmington, where they had spent the night, back to Minooka, court records show. Prosecutors said the woman was worried about Lennon-Rios's driving and that the pair had a flat tire. She got out of the pickup truck and tried to leave.
According to the prosecution's filing, Lennon-Rios put the woman back in the truck. She locked the doors, and he became angry and locked out of his own vehicle. Court records state he took a metal chain from the truck bed, swung it through the window and struck her face and shoulder. As the woman called her mother, Lennon-Rios reached inside, opened his door and pulled her out, prosecutors told Judge Meyers.
State police found her bleeding from her face and nose. Court documents list a bloody nose, shoulder contusion, leg bump and arm bruises. Her glasses and phone were gone, and she went to the hospital. Prosecutors said Lennon-Rios is 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, and that an Indiana order of protection dated Oct. 28, 2025 involving another person is on file. The woman told troopers he takes steroids and that she is moving out of the Minooka residence she shared with him.
Meyers, who was Plainfield's legal counsel for 18 years before joining the bench, took office as an associate judge for the 12th Judicial District in September 2023.
Source: Hoover Patch · original report published
