COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors say a bizarre spat between two Manny's Deli workers started when one pushed the other while he was loading hot gelatin into a fridge — and ended with part of an ear being bitten off.
"Let's go, Tyson," a Cook County sheriff's deputy said to the alleged ear biter as he led him out of court Wednesday, referring to boxer Mike Tyson's notorious chomping of Evander Holyfield's ears.
The 53-year-old victim now hears constant ringing and is "permanently disfigured," since doctors weren't able to reattach the earlobe, Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonietti said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
Sergio Sanchez, 45, and the victim work together at Manny's Deli at 1141 S. Jefferson St., prosecutors said.
Earlier this month, Sanchez allegedly "pushed into" his co-worker as the man was trying to load a container of hot Jell-O into a refrigerator, Antonietti said.
A few days later, on April 18, Sanchez approached the victim as he walked to work in the 1300 block of South Jefferson Street, demanding to "finish their argument," according to Antonietti.
Sanchez took off his belt and proceeded to whip the victim, prosecutors said. He then bit the victim's ear, ripping off part of the man's earlobe, court records show.
"The victim saw a part of his ear in [Sanchez's] mouth," Antonietti said in court Wednesday.
Both men then went to work, prosecutors said, and the victim was eventually taken to a nearby hospital. According to Antonietti, the man needed two stitches in his temple and will need "more medical follow-up" for his ear injury.
Sanchez, of the 5900 block of South Mozart Street, was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Sanchez is married with children and has worked in catering for five years, his public defender said.
Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Wednesday said Sanchez could be released on electronic monitoring so long as he qualifies for the Cook County Sheriff's Office's monitoring program. If not, bail for Sanchez would be set at $100,000.
If he's released, Sanchez would not allowed to contact the victim or go back to work at Manny's, the judge ordered.
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