WICKER PARK — A West Town man was taken to the hospital after being beaten in a fight he allegedly started with the father-and-son owners of a Wicker Park liquor store and neighboring Middle Eastern restaurant.
The incident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in front of D&D Liquors at 2006 W. Division St., at the northwest corner of Damen Avenue and Division Street.
According to D&D Liquors co-owner Danny Yahya Jr., a man was drinking a can of Modelo beer outside of the store at a small table. Located 15 feet from the store's entrance, the table is reserved for customers or employees to smoke cigarettes at, Yahya Jr. said.
"I said 'You can't drink here' and he refused and threw the can of beer at me. He started attacking me and went into the store and started throwing bottles at us. Dad had stitches in the corner of his head," Yahya Jr. said of his father, Danny Yahya Sr.
Officer Nicole Trainor, a Chicago Police spokeswoman, said the attacker, Cesar Delgado, 37, of the 1800 block of West Erie Street, will face misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property at a May 2nd court date.
Trainor said the man bought the alcohol he was drinking from the store.
Both Danny Yahya Sr. and the attacker were taken to Presence St. Mary's Hospital.
Yahya Sr. received two stitches in his head and was released. The offender was "being uncooperative with [hospital] staff and was intoxicated," Trainor said.
Trainor said the offender had "a knot" on his head and underwent a CAT scan.
Yahya Jr. refused medical attention and had blood on his face after the fight ended. He said the man destroyed about $7,000 worth of beer and liquor in the rampage.
Yahya Jr. said he restrained the man while waiting for police to arrive, which he estimated took about 15 minutes.
"I was defending myself, I was defending my store," he said.
Yahya Jr. said his father, Danny Yahya Sr., was trying to defuse the situation when he got a bottle thrown at him by the man.
Beth Clark, a Wicker Park resident, said she witnessed the events unfold as she was approaching the store to buy a bottle of wine.
"Yahya should have called the police to report [Delgado] with an open container on private property. Instead, after an unnecessarily heated exchange between Delgado and Yahya, Delgado threw the beer and Yahya lunged at him. It went crazy from there," Clark wrote in an email.
Clark said she watched Yahya kick Delgado in the face, crotch and stomach.
Around 6 p.m., D&D employees were sweeping up the shards of glass from several bottles in the parking lot. The store reopened at 6:30 p.m.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
