A Woodridge man accused of beating his father to death with a weed trimmer now has been charged with biting a DuPage County sheriff’s officer so hard that he broke the officer’s finger, according to prosecutors.Yashesh Desai, 21, was brought into court Friday in a restraint chair flanked by a dozen deputies to face a new charge of aggravated battery.
Desai reportedly attacked a sergeant Sunday night as the officer and other jailers were seeking to move Desai so his cell could be cleaned. He had reportedly urinated and defecated on the floor and had shoved his dinner tray into the toilet, Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kapas said.
When officers tried to enter, Desai first tried to hold the cell door shut, and then struck the officer in the temple, breaking the officer’s glasses, Kapas said. Desai then allegedly bit the officer, breaking the ring finger on his left hand.
Judge Robert Kleeman set bail on the new charge at $200,000, and ordered Desai to submit to a blood draw so he can be screened for HIV.
Desai, who was covered by a blue blanket, did not speak during the appearance.
He has been in the DuPage County jail on $2 million bail since August after he was charged with the first-degree murder of his father, Sanjiv J. Desai, 47, at the family’s residence on Plover Court in Woodridge. Authorities allege Desai used a weed trimmer to bash his sleeping father in the head.
The judge set arraignment on the new charge for Oct. 28. The court is awaiting a psychiatric evaluation on Desai, who was dismissed from the University of Illinois in September 2010 after he allegedly waved a knife at some fellow students and was charged with aggravated assault.
Kleeman said the court is attempting to obtain results of a psychological evaluation from the university that was conducted following his arrest there.
