Man charged in River North stabbing, but still no arrests in other violent cases

Vega | Chicago Police Dept

Update July 3, 2021 — Isaac Vega pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in exchange for a two-year sentence from Judge Aleksandra Gillespie, court records show. 


As a new weekend approaches, only one arrest has been made in connection with a string of violent incidents last weekend that left four people shot, two stabbed, and three severely beaten in the Near North neighborhood.

The only person arrested in connection with any of the incidents is 37-year-old Isaac Vega, who is charged with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Around 1:45 a.m. last Sunday, a 51-year-old man was crossing the street at Huron and Franklin with two other men when Vega sped up as if he was going to run over the men, the victim told police. Vega and three passengers reportedly got out of their car, and the Vega eventually stabbed the man, according to a police spokesperson.

The victim was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. One of his companions suffered lesser injuries and refused medical attention.

Not So Fortunate

Cops have come up empty in their pursuit of the persons responsible for the neighborhood’s other violent crimes last weekend:

Chicago police confirmed Thursday evening that, despite detaining “persons of interest” following shootings of three people at a “peace picnic” in Seward Park and a man in a Streeterville parking garage, no charges have been filed and the detainees have been released. Both cases remain under investigation, police said.

However, new information has emerged about the Streeterville shooting which took place on the fifth floor of a parking garage at 240 East Illinois around 11:50 p.m. last Thursday.

According to information provided to CWBChicago and confirmed by a police department source, police believe the shooting took place after a disagreement broke out between two men about how to share a large sum of money that they had stolen from a 19-year-old woman.

On-the-record, Chicago police would say only that a 19-year-old woman reported that her car was broken into in the parking garage around 10:08 p.m. on the night of the shooting. Taken from her vehicle was “a backpack and an unknown amount of money.”

Meanwhile, no arrests have been made in connection with the beating of two men with a bat or pipe near the Drake Hotel early last Sunday. Additionally, no one is charged with the repeated stabbing of a 38-year-old woman in the 1100 block of North Clark Street early last Saturday.

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CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets. Our editorial email address is news@cwbchicago.com