A man has been sentenced to two months in jail after prosecutors say he stabbed another motorist twice in the chest, leaving him in critical condition, during a motorist dispute in Mundelein.
Edward Nieves Jr., 59, of Mundelein, was charged in October with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, both Class 3 felonies.
The Mundelein Police Department responded around 7:27 p.m. on October 29 to the area of Route 176 and Joice Lane for a report of a stabbing.
Responding officers located a 57-year-old male victim bleeding from stab wounds to his chest, according to Mundelein Police Chief Jason Seeley.
The victim was able to provide a partial description of the suspect who had fled the scene in a vehicle.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Shanley-Roberts said the victim was the 911 caller and officers found blood all over his chest.
He told officers he was involved in a road rage incident when he was stabbed twice in the left side of the chest.
The victim provided a description of the offending vehicle, the plate number and a description of the offender, Shanley-Roberts said.
Officers found there was blood all around the victim’s car and a blood trail of 15-20 feet, indicating the stabbing happened closer to Route 176 and the victim retreated to his car on Joice Lane.
Shanley-Roberts said the victim was rushed to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville by ambulance and taken to the operating room.
The trauma nurse and trauma doctor confirmed that the man had two stab wounds and his breathing was diminished.
Surgery was performed on the victim for nearly an hour. He suffered a collapsed left lung and a laceration to his diaphragm, Shanley-Roberts said.
Doctors intubated him and he was listed in critical but stable condition and survived.
Officers were able to identify the offending vehicle based on the victim’s description. The vehicle had Wisconsin plates but was registered to Nieves.
Investigators performed a ping on Nieves’ phone and tracked him to his residence, Shanley-Roberts said.
Nieves was pacing around his house and on the phone when officers arrived. He spoke to them and initially denied anything had happened.
Nieves said he came straight home from work but when officers continued to question him, he said that someone tried to run him off the road on Route 176, Shanley-Roberts said.
He described the other vehicle and it matched the victim’s car. Nieves said he and the other motorist pulled over somewhere on Route 176 and the victim approached his vehicle aggressively, Shanley-Roberts said.
Nieves said the man called him a “motherf–ker” and yelled at him. Nieves rolled down his window and claimed the victim put his upper body into the vehicle, Shanley-Roberts said.
Nieves said he started hitting the victim but denied stabbing him and said he does not carry a knife and never had a knife.
Officers saw blood on multiple areas of Nieves’ vehicle and he tried telling investigators there was not blood on his car before saying, “If you’re going to arrest me, talk to my lawyer,” according to Shanley-Roberts.
Nieves’ wife spoke to officers and she said her husband had called her earlier and told her, “I think I stabbed somebody.”
She questioned him further and he said he was involved in a road rage incident and was trying to defend himself, Shanley-Roberts said.
Nieves told his wife that the knife was either in the vehicle or he had lost it outside of the car. The wife reported that Nieves carries a pocket knife with him regularly.
Nieves never called police to report the incident despite hours elapsing from when officers located him, Shanley-Roberts said.
“At no time during that period did the defendant contact police or report that anything had happened, which a reasonable person would have done if their actions were justified. Though there is evidence that the victim did exit his car and go to the defendant’s car, there is no evidence that the victim ever did anything that would necessitate or justify stabbing him two times in the chest,” Shanley-Roberts said.
Nieves was transported to the Lake County Jail and ordered detained pending trial following a detention hearing.
Court records show he has remained in custody and entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.
Nieves pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class 3 felony, in exchange for a 68-day jail sentence and 24 months of probation.
Nieves received 35 days of credit for time already served up until that point. He was released from the jail on Monday after his sentence was considered served.
Nieves was ordered to additionally perform 100 hours of public service, not leave the state without permission, not possess weapons, have no contact with the victim and not consume illegal drugs or alcohol.