Bond revoked again in assault case

The Gurnee woman accused of attacking a police officer with a sex toy was sent back to jail Friday after testing positive for alcohol use.

Lake County Associate Judge Brian Hughes doubled the bond for Carolee Bildsten, 57, because she tested positive after being arrested for missing an earlier court date.

Police say Bildsten is charged with theft and aggravated assault for walking out on a restaurant tab Nov. 9, then using the plastic sex toy to attack an officer who was trying to collect the money.

She is also charged with felony drunken driving and driving with a revoked license after a Sept. 15 arrest. Police are moving to seize Bildsten’s 1998 Toyota Camry because of those charges.

Bildsten did not show up for a Dec. 23 court date, and her bond was set at $10,000 when she surrendered to police five days later.

She was released after posting $1,000 in cash, and one of the conditions of her bond was that she not consume any alcohol. Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Turk told Hughes on Friday that a probation officer had gone to the hotel where Bildsten is living on Jan. 6 to verify her whereabouts. While there, Turk said, the probation officer had Bildsten take a Breathalyzer test and Bildsten registered a blood alcohol content of .236 percent, nearly four times the legal definition of intoxication of .08 percent.

Defense attorney Melissa Wach asked Hughes not to increase Bildsten’s bond, as she has recently started to address her substance abuse issues.

“My client is attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five nights a week,” Wach said. “Unfortunately, relapses are a part of the disease of alcoholism.”

But Hughes raised Bildsten’s bond to $20,000, which will require her to post another $1,000 to get out of jail.

Before being led from the courtroom, Bildsten entered not guilty pleas to all the charges against her.

Hughes told her felony driving under the influence of alcohol carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Driving with a revoked license, theft and aggravated assault are all misdemeanors with a top punishment of a year in jail, Hughes said.

All of the charges against Bildsten are also punishable by probation, Hughes said.

He scheduled a trial for March 14, and ordered Bildsten to appear in court Feb. 17.