COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The man accused of kicking and slapping a group of first-graders playing outside during recess at a Gold Coast elementary school was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail Thursday.
Tasewell Dugger, 46, got into the fenced-in playground at Ogden International School's east campus, 24 W. Walton St., and began "striking and attacking the children as he plowed through the playground area," Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing Thursday.
The attack began about 11 a.m. Tuesday when Dugger hit and kicked a 6-year-old boy who ran past him — sending the child to the ground, prosecutors said.
Dugger then kicked a girl and punched her in her stomach before slapping two other first-grade girls in the face, Scaduto said. The girls — ages 6, 7 and 7 — had been hugging and playing.
School security was able to stop Dugger at that point, prosecutors said. He was arrested two blocks away, according to authorities, and no children were seriously hurt in the incident.
It's unclear what prompted the violent outburst. Prosecutors did say that Dugger showed up at Ogden's front door about two hours before the attack, asking for two children who did not attend the school.
According to Assistant Public Defender Wendy Fawcett, Dugger is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. who has lived in Chicago for the past nine months. He comes from St. Louis, Mo., court records show.
A spokeswoman for the Marines on Thursday said there was no service record for anyone named Tasewell Dugger. Fawcett said Dugger served for four years more than two decades ago.
Dugger is charged with aggravated battery to a child and criminal trespass to state land.
Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Thursday ordered Dugger held in lieu of $750,000 bail.
