GALESBURG — A Galesburg woman is charged with attempted murder of a former Galesburg police officer.

According to a police report read in court Wednesday, authorities responded to the 300 block of Knox County Highway 26 at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and found Andrew Tolle in the roadway from a hit-and-run accident. Tolle, 61, retired from the Galesburg Police Department in 2013 as a captain with 29 years of experience. Jacqueline J. Wells, 45, Farnham Street, is charged with attempted first-degree murder in the incident that left Tolle hospitalized.

Knox County Assistant State's Attorney Sabrina Stroops read from the police report during a hearing Wednesday in Knox County Court that led to Judge Bruce Beal finding probable cause to hold Wells in custody.

Stroops said Wells was driving her vehicle and came up from behind Tolle on his bicycle, honked at him, pulled alongside, then slowed to fall behind Tolle and hit him.

According to a Knox County Sheriff's Department news release, Tolle told police he was riding his bicycle westbound on Knox Highway 26 near the Lake Bracken boat dock when a red Jeep pulled up next to him. A woman made obscene gestures at him and appeared to be yelling at him.

The Jeep then got behind Tolle, rammed the bicycle twice and ran over Tolle.

The second hit, Stroops said, knocked Tolle to the ground, at which point Wells allegedly ran over him and drove off. The encounter occurred after Wells allegedly hit another vehicle and drove away.

"She had part of the bicycle stuck under the vehicle" at the time of her arrest at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, Stroops said.

Police received a driving complaint of a vehicle in the 1000 block of Illinois 41 that was dragging a bicycle, the county news release said, at about the same time medical personnel were sent to Knox Highway 26 for an injured bicyclist.

Stroops said Tolle is receiving medical treatment in OSF Saint Francis Medical Center for a broken leg and arm and a fractured pelvis. He was initially transported by Galesburg Hospitals' Ambulance Service to a local hospital, a news release said.

Wells also received treatment from a local hospital before being released to authorities.

She also is charged with four counts of aggravated battery, aggravated reckless driving and failure to stop after having an accident involving personal injury or death. Additionally, Wells is charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol and a few traffic citations, including improper traffic lane usage. She is being held in the Knox County jail.

Beal set bail at $500,000, $50,000 needed to get out of jail, during the video court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

Wells repeatedly yelled at Beal throughout the reading of her charges, calling him Santa Claus among other things. Beal ordered a mental health fitness evaluation to be performed on Wells ahead of her next court date.

Her specific charges allege Wells "performed a substantial step" toward committing first-degree murder in that she "hit Andrew Tolle with her vehicle" and then ran over him, court documents said.

The reason there are four aggravated battery charges is that each one alleges a different violation.

The first aggravated battery charge said Wells' 2015 Jeep was a deadly weapon and caused multiple fractures to Tolle, the second charge says that Tolle is at least 60 years old and the remaining two aggravated battery charges are for causing great bodily harm and that it happened on a public road.

The reckless driving charge alleges that Wells knowingly ran over Tolle thereby causing the multiple fractures and the last felony charge alleges Wells left the scene of the accident.

Monmouth-based defense Attorney David Reid Clark was present during Wednesday's video court appearance, but did not enter an appearance in the case for his law firm of Clark, Glasgow and McClintock.

He told Beal his firm had been contacted about potentially taking on the case, but Clark first learned of the attempted first-degree murder charge in court.

"We did not anticipate an attempted first-degree murder" charge, he told Beal.

For that reason, Beal appointed Wells a public defender for the time being. A mental health fitness evaluation is anticipated to occur sometime in the next week ahead of her first appearance with counsel at 11 a.m. May 17.

Robert Connelly: (309) 343-7181, ext. 266; rconnelly@register-mail.com; @RConnelly_