COOK COUNTY, IL – A Schaumburg man, who is already facing charges for assaulting Cook County Jail correctional officers earlier this year, is under investigation again for assaulting another correctional officer on Tuesday, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Wednesday. Daquan Houston, 18, was found unfit to stand trial on April 28 and was ordered to be remanded immediately to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS).
Houston, however, remained housed at Cook County Jail pending transfer to DHS at the time of the Tuesday’s attack on two correctional officers. One officer suffered a broken nose and second officer had broken fingers, an injured shoulder, and a possible concussion. Houston was uninjured and had to be placed in therapeutic restraints.
Houston has already been charged with three counts of aggravated battery to an officer, which is a felony, for three prior incidents that occurred at Cook County Jail in February and March. Tuesday’s attack – which marks the fourth time in the last three months he has injured a Cook County Sheriff correctional officer – is under investigation by Sheriff’s Police.
Houston first entered the Sheriff’s custody on January 24, 2014 after being arrested in Schaumburg for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In February, Houston struck an officer several times in the face, causing a broken nose and dislocated jaw. In that same incident, another officer sustained a broken arm and right hand.
In March, Houston attacked an officer by punching him in the face.
“Cook County Jail houses both our community’s most violent criminals and the largest mentally ill population in the United States, creating a challenging and increasingly untenable work environment for our employees,” Sheriff Dart said. “We will not sit idly by as the seriously mentally ill continue to cycle through the jail when they belong in treatment.”
Houston was transferred to the Chester Mental Health Facility Wednesday.
Sheriff Dart reminds the public that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the government in a court of law.
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