CHICAGO — A person accused of randomly attacking a lady within the Loop earlier this month, knocking her to the bottom in a crosswalk, is barely going through a misdemeanor battery cost, in accordance with court docket information. The girl is the fourth person who Azzam Qattoum is accused of randomly attacking downtown since Christmas. He was charged with misdemeanors in the entire different instances, too.
That’s a stark distinction to the felony cost filed towards William Swetz, the Flossmoor man accused of tossing root beer within the face of Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer Kim Foxx final month.
As we reported earlier than, any bodily assault on the general public means will be charged as a felony in Illinois. The crime is named “aggravated battery in a public place.” That’s the cost Swetz faces for tossing his Huge Gulp on Foxx. However the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace hardly ever approves the cost until there are extra circumstances like theft or theft concerned.
It’s honest to ask, how is getting splashed with root beer a felony however what you see on this video, first reported by the @CPD1617Scanner account on Twitter, is a misdemeanor? Watch:
A lady was randomly attacked at State and Randolph round 8:20 AM final week on Wednesday July 17.
The girl suffered minor accidents.
Azzam Quattoum, 34, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery.#Chicago#ChicagoScanner pic.twitter.com/boQn2OynS9
— sixteenth & seventeenth District Chicago Police Scanner (@CPD1617Scanner) July 26, 2024
Leaders in Foxx’s workplace would let you know that they’ll’t approve aggravated battery in a public place costs if police don’t ask them to. And the police will let you know they’ve stopped asking as a result of the cost is routinely denied. In Foxx’s case, the girl accountable for the felony approval course of went to Flossmoor to deal with the matter personally.
The girl in that video, a 20-year-old from suburban St. Louis, instructed police that Qattoum punched her within the brow as she crossed the road at State and Randolph round 8:58 a.m. on July 17. She suffered whiplash however was not critically injured, in accordance with Qattoum’s arrest report.
Choose Caroline Glennon-Goodman launched Qattoum from custody the following day.
Simply eight days earlier than the assault seen within the video, Qattoum pleaded responsible to attacking three different individuals in three separate assaults in Streeterville, in accordance with court docket information.
On December 26, an 18-year-old man from Kansas was within the 700 block of North Michigan when Qattoum hit him within the left aspect of the face, a CPD report mentioned.
Regardless that Qattoum was solely charged with misdemeanor battery and will have been launched from the station, a Chicago police supervisor despatched him to court docket the following day. The supervisor made the choice as a result of Qattoum “displayed violent conduct by his unprovoked actions towards the sufferer.”
The next day, Choose Kelly McCarthy launched him.
Precisely one week later, on January 3, a 48-year-old Northwestern Memorial Hospital worker was on her lunch break when Qattoum hit her within the face within the 600 block of North St. Clair, in accordance with one other CPD report.
When she reported the assault, a Northwestern safety guard acknowledged Qattoum as the one that had beforehand pushed a 50-year-old girl. Police positioned Qattoum, charged him with two counts of misdemeanor battery, and despatched him to court docket.
Choose Donald Panarese launched him the following day, telling him to remain in the home at night time, in accordance with court docket information.
Qattoum by no means confirmed up for one more court docket date. An arrest warrant signed by Panarese remained lively till Qattoum was positioned on July 8. The following day, he pleaded responsible to all three pending misdemeanor costs, court docket information present. Panarese sentenced him to 30 days in jail, with credit score for 26 days.
Eight days later, officers say, he punched that girl within the Loop. He’s due in court docket once more on August 7.
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