GURNEE, Ill. (WLS) — A Wisconsin woman is facing charges in connection with two apparently random hit-and-run crashes and a stabbing outside the north suburban Gurnee Mills mall on Monday, police said.
Katelyn A. Harmon, a 25-year-old Waukesha, Wisconsin woman, is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and leaving the scene of a crash.
Gurnee police said officers initially responded to reports of a vehicle hitting a pedestrian in the 6100-block of Grand Avenue just after 10 a.m.
Police said Harmon drove a vehicle through a parking lot aisle, hitting a 79-year-old man, who was standing near his vehicle. The driver then hit another person, a 60-year-old woman.
The man, who suffered serious injuries, was taken to Advocate Condell Hospital, and the woman, who suffered a non-life-threatening ankle injury, was taken to Lake Forest Hospital, police said.
Harmon fled the scene before officers arrived, police said, but while officers canvassed the area, they saw a physical altercation between a 30-year-old man and a woman near the 6400-block of Grand Avenue.
Officers ordered the two to separate, and that's when the woman, Harmon, stood up and aggressively approached an officer, who deployed a Taser, police said.
Officers then took Harmon into custody.
Police said after hitting the two pedestrians, Harmon allegedly entered a nearby parking lot and approached the 30-year-old man, who was sitting inside his vehicle.
Harmon used a large butcher knife to strike the vehicle's window and slash the driver's side tire, police said. When the man got out of his vehicle, a physical struggle ensued.
The man suffered several lacerations to his hands but was able to disarm Harmon and restrain her until police arrived, police said.
Police believe Harmon targeted all three people randomly, and there is no clear motive. There is no ongoing threat to the public.
Harmon is due in court on Wednesday.
