Recently in Battery / Assault Category

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Matthew Moustis, the son of Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis (R-Frankfort), was charged with stabbing another teenage boy during an argument over a girl.

Pat Barry, a spokesman for Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas, said the alleged stabbing took place last Wednesday evening in a parking lot at Indian Trail School. Frankfort Township fire fighters arrived first on the scene and found the 18-year-old victim on the ground with a slashed neck and a stab wound in the abdomen.

The city's popular "Taste of Chicago" event has become an annual fixture for foodies and others who enjoy a good street festival. But several acts of violence erupted as Taste of Chicago 2010 let out last Friday night, according to the Chicago Tribune.  

Three teenagers were stabbed in two separate incidents and police said they had to use a stun gun to subdue a man who fought with officers. While police have touted the use of Taser stun guns as a non-lethal but effective tool, Chicago criminal attorneys often challenge their use in court.

In this case, police say a 24-year-old man who was blocking traffic refused officers' request that he move, and then struggled with officers. An officer Tasered him after he pushed and began fighting with the officers, according to News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

Suspected shoplifter Donald L. Johnson may not have made headlines had his alleged shoplifting not gone so horribly wrong, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. The incident began at a Dominick's Food Store at 215 S. Route 83, where he was suspected of stealing several bottles of liquor. 

The 32-year-old's long list of charges includes retail theft, aggravated battery of a police officer, criminal damage to state supported property, driving with a suspended license, aggravated fleeing and eluding, driving without insurance and resisting arrest.

Needless to say, Donald Johnson's Chicago criminal attorney will have his hands full with this case.

Everyone should work in the service industry at least once in their life, assuming they'll one day move up from there. Working as a short-order cook, waitress, cashier or pizza driver cultivates humility and empathy. It's humbling work, to say the least, especially when berated or stiffed by customers.

But no one should have to experience what 20-year-old Pizza Hut delivery man Jonathan Kroning allegedly went through a couple of weeks ago (Sun-Times).

Many people believe an "assault" is pretty much the same thing as an "attack," and in some ways it is. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines assault as "a violent physical or verbal attack." But the legal definition of assault is much more in line with Webster's second definition: "a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person."

Definitions of legal terms are very precise and technical for good reason. If someone is charged with assault, the prosecution must prove it based on set elements of what constitutes the crime.

In the apparent escalation of a dispute over a Kane County man's girlfriend, Antwan D. Youngblood beat the man within an inch of his life with a baseball bat (Fox Chicago).

Youngblood, 31, was convicted last week for the incident on charges of attempted murder, armed violence and two counts of aggravated battery. The trial lasted two days and the jury deliberated for four hours, according to the article.

He faces up to 30 years in prison.

In what sounds like the precursor to an assault and battery suit, Rogers Park resident Daniel Hauff recounted the moments leading up to a beating on the CTA Red Line last Sunday.

Hauff was treated in area hospital and released without serious injuries, but told reporters that the conductor left the scene too early and claims police should have been called sooner.

It all started at about 3 a.m. near the Argyle stop when Hauff said he tried to calm two men who were having a dispute aboard the train he was riding on.

One of the disputants, who was quickly joined by two other riders, allegedly yelled anti-gay slurs at Hauff.

The Tribune reports Hauff pressed the emergency intercom when things started turning ugly and the train's conductor arrived.

Who hasn't gotten so angry at the sight of a former girlfriend (or boyfriend) and her (or his) new squeeze that all they wanted to do was run them over mercilessly? Usually such blind rages cool off after taking a few deep breaths.

But not for 25-year-old Patrick Ohiku (The News-Gazette), who assaulted former boyfriend Brandon Drum and another man (Marshall Hughes) with his car in Urbana. Neither of the victims were too seriously injured: Drum had a broken arm, an injured knee and bumps on his head, while Hughes only had a knot on his head.

All three of the men were lucky, since Ohiku easily could have killed the pair.

Suburban Chicago resident Valerie Kenney has pled guilty to misdemeanor battery for tugging on the traditional Muslim head scarf - or hijab - of Amal Abusumayah at their local grocery store.

Prosecutors had filed felony hate-crime charges, which were dropped after Kenney's plea.

Kenney made loud and angry references to the fact that the alleged shooter who killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas in November was from the Middle East - apparently so loud that the visibly Muslim Abusumayah could hear.

That's downright rude but what she did next straddled the line between battery and a hate-crime.

There are better ways to get home on a brisk, snowy evening than punching an off-duty cop and taking her car at gunpoint (Fox Chicago). The officer suffered only minor injuries and is expected to recover just fine.

But the 17-year-old boy charged with the crime really knows how to inspire sympathy, telling police: "I was walking home and I was very cold. I didn't want to walk home."

So he allegedly pulled a gun on a woman, grabbed her keys, jacked her upside the head and drove off in her car. Who wouldn't?