A challenge to take a West Town bar argument “outside” ended with a man being outnumbered and stabbed in the neck a few days before Thanksgiving. Prosecutors filed charges against one of the alleged attackers yesterday.
Around 2:50 a.m. on November 21, police and paramedics responding to a “person stabbed” call discovered a 23-year-old man bleeding from the neck and body while lying in the 400 block of North Milwaukee.
Investigators learned that the victim had been arguing with a bartender over “jokes,” and the bartender told him to leave, Assistant State’s Attorney Tilesha Jackson said.
But before the victim departed, the bartender also offered to meet outside to fight, Jackson said. The victim accepted the challenge and waited outside while his girlfriend went to their car and waited, according to Jackson. She did not identify the bar by name.
When the bartender emerged, he was accompanied by two other men, including 21-year-old Dushan Zivkovic, according to Jackson.
The man realized he was outmatched and tried to defuse the situation, saying he no longer wanted to fight. But, according to Jackson, Zivkovic and the others began punching him in the face and body.
As the man tried to run away, Zivkovic allegedly stabbed him in the back of the neck, causing him to fall to the ground. Jackson said that someone stabbed the man two more times in the back of his shoulder while he was down.
Zivkovic and the other two fled the scene, but CPD surveillance cameras tracked their movements and showed Zivkovic entering a white truck with a license plate that was registered to him, Jackson said.
The victim was hospitalized for a month and temporarily lost mobility in his legs and right arm, but he has regained some movement. He had to drop out of law school and is still undergoing physical therapy, Jackson continued.
Zivkovic surrendered to police on Wednesday to face one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. His public defender, Suzin Farber, said he has never been arrested before and works full time.
Judge Mary Marubio ordered him to pay a $2,500 deposit toward bail to be released from jail.