URBANA, Ill. (WAND) – A former Ludlow leader attacked a correctional officer by trying to strangle him, prosecutors said.

It happened Wednesday at the Champaign County satellite jail, they said, when 62-year-old Ross Radke grabbed the officer’s throat with his hands from behind as they performed security rounds. This led to the officer and Radke getting into a fight before other officers could subdue the suspect, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Brooke Hinman.

The News-Gazette reports the victim and Radke went to Carle Hospital and ended up released after they were evaluated. The officer, who had worked with the Champaign County Sheriff's Office for four years, only had soreness and neck scratches.

Radke, a former village trustee in Ludlow, had been behind bars since May 4 on charges of aggravated unlawful use of weapons and possession of a firearm with a revoked FOID card after an arrest nearly five months before in Rantoul. Police said a woman was in her car at a Klein Avenue laundromat in Rantoul when Radke approached with a loaded handgun and magazines, then told her to stay inside and showed her what seemed to be a gun in the pocket of his coat.

According to the newspaper, Radke was in court Thursday for video arraignment on aggravated battery charges in connection to the alleged attack. At that time, he had a bandaged forehead and a possible blood blister in his eye. In that hearing, prosecutors said they learned from another inmate that the officer had not acted in any way that would have provoked Radke.

Radke faces probation to three to seven years behind bars if convicted of the most serious of two aggravated battery charges. The paper said an aggravated unlawful use of weapons conviction would mean the sentences must be served with one following the other.

The suspect will appear in court on Sept. 26 for a probable cause hearing on the aggravated battery charges.

Radke took on the role of Ludlow Village Board trustee in March 2018 and left when his term ended on May 6. An unsuccessful campaign for mayor ended with his defeat in April.