COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Uptown man used two knives, one in each hand, to stab a 25-year-old stranger nine times at North Avenue Beach earlier this week, prosecutors said Thursday.
Pablo Sosa, 35, first met the victim about an hour before the stabbing, which happened about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday at the popular Lincoln Park beach, according to Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto, who spoke during a brief bond hearing.
Several of the victim's friends advised him to watch out for Sosa, who they believed was acting strangely, prosecutors said.
Sosa is accused of punching the victim before pulling out two knives and stabbing the man nine times — five times in his back, once in his armpit and three times in his arms. The victim suffered a punctured lung, Scaduto said.
Prosecutors did not provide a motive for the attack Thursday.
Sosa then tried to escape on a nearby bicycle, prosecutors said, but was thwarted by a good Samaritan who hit Sosa on the head with a bottle.
Several bystanders surrounded Sosa until nearby Chicago police officers were able to arrest him, according to police and prosecutors.
Sosa remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Police previously said Sosa was cut on his face, knee and wrist with a broken bottle. Additional details about his condition were not immediately available.
Sosa, of the 900 block of West Winona Street, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was wanted on a warrant for a pending Skokie case.
Cook County Judge James Brown on Thursday set bail at $750,000.
Police previously described Sosa as a documented gang member. A public defender was not able to speak on Sosa's behalf in court Thursday since the man remained hospitalized.
Police initially said both men took part in the fight which was "domestic-related." The fact that the two men didn't know each other and that the victim did not fight back only came out in court Thursday.
Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, speaking after the graduation of new police cadets Thursday, addressed the discrepancy between the account given by police and the revised account given by prosecutors.
"Generally, when you give out facts immediately after an event on an incident those are preliminary [facts] subject to change," Johnson said. "So the story sometimes changes [between] the time we arrest him and he goes to court."
At a news conference Tuesday night, Deputy Chicago Police Supt. Kevin Navarro declared "the beaches are safe. This is one incident that occurred between two subjects.
"There’s really no way to defend an argument between two people, but [we] just want them to know that we were right on the scene, doing everything we need to do to keep the beach safe."
The stabbing came after two teens were shot at the crowded 31st Street Beach about 7 p.m. Sunday. No arrests have been made in that case.
