Cops Say Drunk Mom Made Girl Walk 2 Miles Barefoot: Police Blotter

A drunken Rockdale woman took her barefoot 2-year-old daughter on a two-and-a-half mile trek through , police said.

The mother, Samantha Settles, 25, of 710 Wheeler Ave., told officers she and her daughter walked barefoot from their home to the corner of Ingalls Avenue and Prairie Street Monday evening "because they don't like to wear shoes," said.

Officers ran into Settles after they were sent to check a report of a woman holding a bottle of vodka in one hand and a small child's hand in the other as she walked along the near west side, police said.

The cops reportedly caught up with Settles at Ingalls and Prairie shortly before 7 p.m. She was sitting on the curb, hunched over and crying, and had a half bottle of vodka stuck in the waistband of her pants, police said.

Both mother and child were dirty, police said, and Settles was mumbling and "not making sense."

Settles reportedly told police she and her daughter had walked from their Rockdale home.

Settles was arrested on a charge of endangering the life or health of a child. Children and family services took her daughter away. The girl was released to the custody of her grandmother, police said.

Settles was released on her own recognizance.

"Crazy guy" Maced

A man who alarmed a woman and child in downtown Joliet was Maced after resisting an officer trying to take him into custody, police said.

Danny Smith, 58, was booked into the Will County jail on charges of aggravated assault and obstructing justice in connection with the 7:50 p.m. incident.

Police say an officer was flagged down by a woman with a young child. The woman reportedly told the officer of a "crazy guy around the corner" who was screaming and yelling, police said.

The officer turned the corner and found Smith at Chicago and Van Buren streets, and he was indeed screaming and yelling, police said.

It was unclear whether Smith, who according to jail records resides at Hillcrest Healthcare Center, was intoxicated or emotionally disturbed, police said.

The Hillcrest Healthcare Center's license has been revoked by the state. The Joliet police gave an address of 2200 Oneida St. for Smith.

Smith tried to walk away from the officer and then scuffled with him before he was Maced, police said.

At the police station, Smith reportedly resisted officers when they tried to book him.