Prosecutors say a man threw another man down the stairs, causing the victim to hit his head and be hospitalized with serious injuries, at a bar near Grayslake.
Gary A. Thoreson, 38, of Wausaukee, Wisconsin, was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and two counts of battery.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 8 p.m. on September 7 to the C’Mon Inn Bar, 34028 Route 45 in unincorporated Grayslake, for a report of an injured person.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Shanley-Roberts said deputies located the victim outside the bar at the bottom of the stairway.
A small pool of blood was seen under the victim’s head and he was transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Shanley-Roberts said the victim’s girlfriend later reported she had been at the bar with her boyfriend.
The woman had wanted to leave but the victim did not so she told him to call her when he wanted to be picked up.
The woman never received a call from her boyfriend and went back to the bar to look for him but did not find him, Shanley-Roberts said.
A friend from the bar texted the woman and told her that her boyfriend was in the hospital.
Shanley-Roberts said the victim had two brain bleeds, a fractured skull, a bruised back and received multiple staples in his head.
His condition was stabilized at the hospital but he was not speaking a lot and did not know how he ended up in the hospital, Shanley-Roberts said.
Thoreson was identified as a possible suspect and deputies interviewed him.
Thoreson said he received a call from his ex-stepmother who reported that a friend called her and said a man was hitting on her car windows and not letting her get out of the car.
Thoreson went to the bar and confronted the victim. Thoreson claimed the man lunged at him, prompting him to throw the victim down the stairs, Shanley-Roberts said.
Shanley-Roberts said Thoreson went into the bar and told someone to call an ambulance before fleeing the scene.
A bartender saw Thoreson return to the bar later in the night and heard him discuss the incident with other patrons, Shanley-Roberts said, adding that he also boasted about being in other fights.
Thoreson asked the bartender if “the guy was still alive” while drinking before leaving the bar, Shanley-Roberts said.
Video surveillance showed the victim and Thoreson speaking outside the bar.
Shanley-Roberts said the video showed the victim never lunged at Thoreson, who grabbed the victim by the neck and threw him down the stairs.
“This defendant attacked another person, causing him to suffer bleeding in his brain and a cracked skull with no provocation,” Shanley-Roberts said.
A petition to detain Thoreson in the Lake County Jail pending trial was filed by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak granted the petition during a detention hearing.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.