A Chicago man is back in custody, more than eight years after he escaped from electronic monitoring while awaiting trial for a 2012 attempted murder case.
Authorities last saw Julio Mares when he appeared in court for a routine hearing in the attempted murder case on July 15, 2014. Joe Biden was vice president, Iggy Azalea was the hottest thing going, the Cubs hadn’t won a World Series in 107 years, and Mares was in his mid-20s.
Officials said Mares left the criminal courthouse at 26th and California that day and never returned home. The sheriff’s office declared him AWOL that evening.
He was — and still is — charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing two people during a disagreement over the music being played at a Mexican Independence Day party on September 16, 2012.
Prosecutors said Mares’ neighbors were hosting the celebration. Mares went across the street with a companion and yelled at the DJ to play different music. The duo “insulted the females at the party” and stabbed two partygoers who asked them to calm down, prosecutors said Monday.
Mares stabbed one man twice in the torso, prosecutors said. His companion slashed another victim across the face with a knife. Mares then stabbed the second victim three times, according to the allegations.
Witnesses flagged down police officers, who arrested Mares and the other suspect. Prosecutors said neither man had knives when police arrested them, but they both had blood on their clothing.
A fugitive apprehension team took Mares, now 34, into custody last Wednesday at a health club in Wicker Park.
He is now charged with escape and still faces attempted murder charges. Judge Maryam Ahmad held him without bail on both cases Monday afternoon.
