A 31-year-old Galesburg woman is facing felony battery charges for allegedly attacking an employee at Watson-Thomas Funeral Home.
Sarah B. Johnson made a video appearance in Knox County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon where a judge set bond at $20,000 and issued a no-contact order with the funeral home or the employee.
Reading from the Galesburg police report, Assistant State’s Attorney Sabrina Stroops said that Johnson had entered the funeral home to make arrangements for a family member.
At some point, Johnson became angry and attacked the employee, pulling her hair and striking her head against a wall. Officers noted in their report that marks were observed on the employee and hair was seen stuck to the wall.
Stroops asked for $200,000 bond due to Johnson having four pending cases in Knox County, two of them being aggravated battery charges. The other two are for damage to government property and for possession of a stolen vehicle.
In all her cases, she had been released on a recognizance bond.
During the hearing, Johnson asked for her to be released so she could attend the graveside service. The judge determined that she would be furloughed from noon until 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 1st, to attend the service. However, he was going to request the Knox County Sheriff’s Office be on standby.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 20th.
