A victim is in critical condition after a man punched and kicked him as he lay unconscious in a parking lot in Waukegan Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The Waukegan Police Department responded around 1:22 p.m. Tuesday to the former Waukegan Savings Bank at 900 10th Street for a battery in progress.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said a 911 caller reported a male Hispanic had a bloody face and a second male Hispanic was attacking him.
A person who lives nearby told responding officers that he heard a commotion and went outside to find the suspect, later identified as Roberto Zarate-Salinas, 31, of North Chicago, punching the victim in the face, McConnell said.
McConnell said Zarate-Salinas also kicked the victim in the face as the victim lay on the ground unconscious and unable to defend himself.
Officers called for an ambulance for the victim, who was unconscious when they arrived.
Paramedics transported him to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with significant injuries.
The victim remained intubated and unconscious as of Wednesday evening, McConnell said, adding that an official diagnosis was not known yet.
Officers located Zarate-Salinas on the street near the bank. He had injuries to his knuckles, a slightly swollen eye and was extremely intoxicated, McConnell said.
Zarate-Salinas was charged with aggravated battery in a public place.
A public defender representing Zarate-Salinas said his client denies being involved but is friends with the victim and the two had been drinking together earlier in the day.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak on Wednesday granted a petition filed by prosecutors to revoke Zarate-Salinas’ pre-trial release in a prior case and remanded him to the Lake County Jail.
Court records show Zarate-Salinas had active cases involving a theft in Libertyville in May and a retail theft in Zion in August when he was arrested for the Waukegan incident.
Prosecutors were unable to file a petition to detain Zarate-Salinas in his latest case for the alleged attack because aggravated battery in a public place is not a detainable offense under the state’s cashless bail law.
The judge questioned why the state’s attorney’s office only charged Zarate-Salinas with aggravated battery in a public place instead of the more serious charge of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
McConnell said the charges would likely be upgraded at a later time.