Police arrested a man who allegedly chased after a child he did not know while armed with a knife at Petersen Park in McHenry, just a day after a man was convicted of attempting to murder a woman in the same park in 2024.
Benjamin J. Ramirez, 18, of McHenry, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct.
A criminal information filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Ramirez possessed a “dangerous knife” with the intent to use it against another person.
The incident occurred on Thursday in Petersen Park, 4200 Petersen Park Road in McHenry.
Court documents said Ramirez brandished the knife at a juvenile victim, placing the child in fear of being harmed.
Ramirez alarmed and disturbed two juveniles and three others during the incident, court documents said.
The criminal information said Ramirez stated he intended to stab the juvenile victim while also chasing them with the knife.
The child had been walking in the park at the time and the incident occurred “without provocation,” court documents said.
McHenry Police Department Public Affairs Officer Ashley O’Herron said it is unknown what provoked the incident to occur as those involved do not know each other.
The victims involved are juvenile teenagers, O’Herron said.
She said officers located Ramirez and took him into custody near Elm Street and Borden Street in McHenry.
Ramirez was transported to the McHenry County Jail where he remains held and is scheduled to appear for an Initial Appearance Court hearing on Friday afternoon.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed a petition to detain Ramirez pending trial.
The incident occurred just one day after Raymond P. Link, 49, of West Allis, Wisconsin, was found guilty but mentally ill of attempted first-degree murder and six counts of aggravated battery following a trial for an attack in the same park.
A 59-year-old woman was walking her dog in Petersen Park when she became the victim of a “savage and unprovoked attack” on May 5, 2024.
Link violently assaulted the victim with his bare hands, beating, stomping and strangling her in a sustained attack that nearly left her dead, prosecutors said.
The attack was interrupted by the “courageous actions” of a 37-year-old bystander who observed the incident and immediately intervened while calling 911, prosecutors said.
The attack resulted in avulsions to the victim’s left ear, a rupture to the globe of her left eye, multiple significant lacerations and an extensive open fracture of her facial bones, court documents said. She also suffered multiple dog bites.