Police ID man suspected of attacking Walmart worker

ROCK FALLS – An arrest warrant is out for the man police say beat a Walmart employee so severely that he was hospitalized.

Ryan Lee Charleston, 35, of Rock Falls, is charged with aggravated battery, Rock Falls police said in a news release.

Eyewitnesses ID’d Charleston as the man who hit the worker in the head with a blunt object around 9:45 p.m. Monday, causing him “significant injuries,” before fleeing on foot, the release said.

The man no longer is hospitalized, but no details of his injuries were available.

Anyone with information on Charleston’s whereabouts is asked to call Rock Falls police at 815-622-1140, or Whiteside County Crime Stoppers, the anonymous reward hotline, at 815-625-786.

Charleston has a long felony criminal history in Whiteside and Lee counties dating back 17 years.

He was sentenced in 2001 in Whiteside County to 2 years for dealing marijuana, and in 2006 to 2 years for aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Two other aggravated battery charges were dismissed.

He was sentenced July 12, 2007, in Lee County to 3 years for aggravated battery of a police officer.

He was convicted in 2009 in Whiteside County of aggravated DUI while his license was suspended, and was sentenced to 1 to 2 years with the Department of Corrections.