20-Mar-19 – A man who seriously injured a security guard at Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago on March 15 will be able to go free by posting a bail deposit of just $100 – despite an accusation that he beat a woman with a baseball bat last November.

Chicago police say two hotel security guards, ages 61 and 26, intervened after 23-year-old Craig Echols began smoking in the lobby of Trump Tower, damaged furniture, and drew on a pillar with a permanent marker at around 2:30 p.m.

Echols (left) then battered both guards, causing the older one to fall and suffer a broken finger, torn ligaments in his right knee, a fractured cheekbone, and facial trauma that required 17 stitches to close, according to court records. Damage to the hotel lobby was estimated at $2,500.

Prosecutors charged Echols with two felony counts of aggravated battery of a peace officer, felony aggravated battery of a victim over age 60, and felony criminal damage to property. Circuit Judge Stephanie Miller set bail at $1,000 and ordered Echols to remain on electronic monitoring. He can go free by posting ten percent of his bail amount.

Echols received the lenient bail terms despite skipping court dates after he was accused of beating a 39-year-old woman with a baseball bat in November, according to county records.

When police responded to a battery-in-progress call on November 26, a woman emerged from Echols’ apartment carrying a bloody baseball bat. Her face and head were covered with blood, cuts, and contusions, police said. The woman reported that Echols had beat her with the bat. Echols, whose hands were bloody, according to police, countered that the woman swung the bat at him, so he disarmed her and struck her with it in self-defense.

Echols was arrested but charges against him were later dropped when the woman did not cooperate with prosecutors.