COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man accused in a 2012 stabbing following a Christmas-themed Wrigleyville bar crawl — an attack which one witness said resembled a bloody scene from a slasher movie — has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery.
Gregg Greaves, 24, was originally charged with attempted murder in the now notorious stabbing during the Twelve Bars of Christmas bar crawl known as TBOX. The crime prompted local officials to rein in organized bar crawls in Wrigleyville.
Greaves jumped out of a bathroom stall at Red Ivy, 3525 N. Clark St., one of the featured bars, and attacked a fellow party-goer with a broken bottle, prosecutors said.
The victim, who is also in his 20s, suffered cuts to his chin and hands from pushing his alleged attacker away, police said. The victim walked out of the bathroom bleeding, holding his hands over his neck, a witness said.
The victim was bleeding so much he looked "like 'Friday the 13th,'" a bar security manager said at the time.
A Purdue University graduate with no criminal background, Greaves must have been drugged, his friends and attorneys maintained.
In the aftermath of the incident, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) proposed measures intended to curtail the wild parties that have in some cases become synonymous with the North Side bar crawls.
In an email, a TBOX spokesperson said Greaves did not purchase a ticket to the bar crawl and said the bar crawl's organizer Chris Festa has "built incredible positive relationships with Wrigleyville business owners" since the incident.
In exchange for Greaves' guilty plea Monday, the Cook County State's Attorney's office dropped the attempted murder charge against him.
As part of the plea deal, Greaves will be put on probation for one year.
