South Cook News

Hazel Crest mayoral candidate Marcia Hollis-Bratcher faced battery and unlawful use of a weapon charges in 1996, according to court records obtained by South Cook News.

The records show Hollis-Bratcher, then a 17 year-old high school student living at 16200 Emerald, Harvey, was arrested on Oct. 24, 1996 and charged with battery. Judge Claudia G. Condon of the Cook County Circuit Court disposed of the case in December of that year.

Earlier that fall, Hollis-Bratcher was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a weapon for "allegedly bringing a steak knife to (Thornwood High) school" in South Holland, according to a report in The Star newspaper, dated Sept. 15, 1996.

Hollis-Bratcher, 41, is challenging incumbent Mayor Vernard Alsberry Jr., 65, who was first elected to office in 2013. 

According to her Linkedin page, Hollis-Bratcher has worked in code enforcement for the Village of Hazel Crest since Aug. 2006. She previously worked for six years in a similar capacity for the Village of Harvey.

Hollis-Bratcher is endorsed by Teamsters Local 700, which represents Hazel Crest village employees including herself. 

Her platform centers around spending unwinding spending cuts and rehiring fellow union members laid off by the current Village Board. She also promises to spend more tax dollars on "free bus and lawn services" for Hazel Crest seniors, "cameras in high crime areas," "enforcing body cameras to be worn by all police" and assisting "low income families with activities and community sports."

Hazel Crest is located 25 miles south of Chicago's Loop, bordered by Harvey and Markham to the north, East Hazel Crest to the east, Homewood and Flossmoor to the south and Country Club Hills to the west. The village population, which is 87 percent black and eight percent white, was 13,565 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census. That's a decline of 8.5 percent since 2000, when it peaked at 14,816. 

Hollis-Bratcher did not respond to inquires by South Cook News.