A Joliet woman whom police say brazenly swiped a car from a hospital valet parking lot and drove into the security guard trying to stop her was charged with aggravated battery and vehicle theft.

The incident occurred at about 9:50 a.m. Dec. 23, when Jaimie Kinney emerged from the front entrance of Provena St. Joseph Medical Center, observed a minivan with its key in the ignition and climbed behind the wheel, Joliet police Cmdr. Rich Demick said.

A security guard on duty knew the van did not belong to Kinney, 20, of 358 N. Broadway, and attempted to block her exit from the parking lot, Demick said.

Instead of stopping, however, she "struck and carried him several feet," eventually running into a curb and then a tree, he said.

The guard suffered injuries to his arm and ribs, and was admitted to Provena, Demick said. The minivan was seriously damaged.

Demick credited the security guard, a former Joliet police cadet, with spotting Kinney before she was able exit the lot and steal the car.

Kinney was arrested in April 2012 on charges of aggravated battery of a police officer and felony theft and again in October for failing to appear at a court hearing.

She's being held in Will County jail in lieu of $7,500 bond.