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Man Who Stabbed Prosecutor Near Lakefront Pleads Guilty

By DNAinfo Staff on February 11, 2014 6:05pm

 A man pleaded guilty to his role in a 2012 beating and stabbing of a prosecutor who was trying to protect a same-sex couple being attacked near Diversey Harbor, prosecutors said.
A man pleaded guilty to his role in a 2012 beating and stabbing of a prosecutor who was trying to protect a same-sex couple being attacked near Diversey Harbor, prosecutors said.
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CHICAGO — A man pleaded guilty to his role in a 2012 beating and stabbing of a prosecutor who was trying to protect a same-sex couple being attacked near Diversey Harbor, prosecutors said.

Luis Cotto, 24, was one of two men charged in the Sept. 13, 2012 incident and was sentenced Tuesday by Cook County Judge William O'Brien to four years in prison to serve out his aggravated battery conviction.

His co-defendant Edgar Diaz, 22, is awaiting trial.

Before the incident, the off-duty prosecutor was going fishing when he saw two men holding hands walking near the harbor, according to a statement from the Cook County State's Attorney Office.

As the couple walked past the prosecutor, Cotto and Diaz approached them, punched one of the men and harassed the couple.

The prosecutor told the attackers to stop, according to the statement. Instead, they targeted the prosecutor, who turned to run and fell.

The attackers punched and kicked him. Cotto broke a bottle over his back and stabbed him with it.

After the attackers fled, the prosecutor was treated at a local hospital for a laceration to his head, a puncture wound to his left arm and a cut on his right arm that required more than 40 stitches.

The prosecutor, who joined the office in 1998, has since resigned from the office.