Thursday, January 3, 2013
The family of Joseph Messina was distraught after a Will County judge found him guilty of punching a Joliet man into a coma more than three years ago.
Three and a half years after he was punched into a coma outside a Mokena bar, Eric Bartels sat propped in a wheelchair in a crowded Joliet courtroom. After the judge found the New Lenox man charged with striking him guilty, Bartels blinked his eyes once. "There are times when he knows what's going on," Bartels' mother, Janet Bartels of Tinley Park, said after Judge Sarah Jones delivered her verdict against Joseph Messina, 24, Thursday morning. Janet Bartels wasn't sure if that was one of those moments, but said she saw Messina going down from the start. "I knew this would be the outcome all along," she said. All along began back in July 2009 at the Mokena bar 191 South. Messina and five friends went to 191 South to celebrate his 21st …
Monday, December 10, 2012
The trial of New Lenox man Joseph Messina concluded Monday afternoon.
Nearly six months after it started, the trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma drew to a close Monday afternoon. But the fate of Joseph Messina won't be known until Will County Judge Sarah Jones hands down her verdict Jan. 3. Messina, 24, waived his right to have a jury decide his guilt or innocence before the trial started in June. Messina allegedly punched 29-year-old Eric Bartels in the face outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. When Bartels fell, his head struck the the concrete and he suffered a fractured skull. A half-dozen witnesses, including two men working for a car service and a 191 South bouncer, testified to seeing Messina throw the fateful punch. But one of Messina's closest friends, …
Friday, December 7, 2012
The star witness in the Mokena coma punch trial can testify without fear of facing criminal charges.
The judge in the Mokena coma punch case cleared the way for Thursday's bombshell witness to keep testifying without fear of prosecution on perjury or obstructing justice charges. The witness, Steve Raymond of Frankfort, then returned to the witness stand to recall how he told the police "a lot of lies," including how he never saw who threw the fateful punch that put a Joliet man in a coma in July 2009. On Thursday and Friday Raymond changed his story and said it was his friend Mike Glielmi who punched 29-year-old Eric Bartels in the face outside the Mokena bar 191 South. Another of Raymond's friends, Joseph Messina, 24, of New Lenox, was charged with attacking Bartels and spent nearly two months in jail before bonding out. Yet Raymond kept…
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The lawyers for New Lenox man Joseph Messina are blaming one of his friends for punching a Joliet man into a coma, but his buddy's pleading the Fifth.
A bombshell witness took the stand in the case against New Lenox man Joseph Messina and accused one of their pals of throwing the fateful punch that put a Joliet man into a coma. Steve Raymond of Frankfort blamed mutual friend Michael Glielmi of punching Eric Bartels into a coma in July 2009. "This is what people don't know," Raymond said. "I saw Mike Glielmi punch Eric Bartels." For his part, the 24-year-old Glielmi showed up in court with Joliet attorney Steven Haney, who said his client would plead the Fifth Amendment if called to testify. "The advice is he's going to invoke his right to remain silent," Haney told Judge Sarah Jones. Haney told the judge that it was his "understanding" that Glielmi could be charged if he answers …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma more than three years ago was back in court Wednesday.
The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching another man into a coma started more than five months ago, and on Wednesday it was back on with testimony from three state police scientists. The scientists were questioned about blood evidence in the case against 24-year-old Joseph Messina, who allegedly beat a man into a coma outside the Mokena bar 191 South back in July 2009. Messina's trial began in June but the high-profile murder prosecutions of wife-killer Drew Peterson and Christopher Vaughn—the Oswego man who executed his wife and three children—forced the postponement of his case. Now, with both Peterson and Vaughn going down guilty, the Messina case is back on. Messina, who is free on a $250,000 bond, allegedly knocked 29-year-…
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar will resume next month.
The bench trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar took a back seat to two of the most notorious and highly publicized murder cases in Will County's history. But the trials of wife-murderer Drew Peterson and quadruple-killer Christopher Vaughn are over now, and the case of Joseph Messina is back on. Messina, 24, allegedly knocked 29-year-old Eric Bartels of Joliet to the ground with a single punch outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. Bartels has been in a coma since. After Bartels fell, a witness testified previously, Messina straddled him, punched his face again, then "raised his arms above his head in victory." The police arrived quickly and found Messina hiding between the …
Monday, October 1, 2012
A car chase and foot pursuit ended with a wanted man in custody.
Cops responding to a report of a fight in a Walmart parking lot ended up chasing a wanted man into Shorewood and apprehending him after he bailed out of a car, police said. Joel Vieyra, 24, of 114 Osgood St. was collared about 12:50 p.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Bailey Drive. Officers sent out to the Walmart on Route 59 to check out a report of a fight caught sight of a car matching the description of a vehicle supposedly transporting one of the combatants, police said. The police reportedly pursued the vehicle over to Black Road and Vieyra jumped from the car when it reached Bailey Drive. He was captured after a brief attempt to make it to freedom on his feet, police said. Vieyra was charged with driving while license suspended and …
Monday, July 16, 2012
A bouncer was hospitalized and two men were arrested following a fight at the bar Liquid Therapy.
A wild fight at the Channahon Road bar Liquid Therapy put the bouncer in the hospital. The bouncer was taken to Provena St. Joseph Medical Center following the early Sunday morning brawl at the 3501 Channahon Road tavern. Two Joliet men were arrested in connection with the fight. Jaime Galvan, 29, of 706 Woodlawn Ave. and Marcellos Hayes, 23, of 514 N. Chicago St. were jailed on a charge each of aggravated battery. There were numerous fights in the bar Saturday night into Sunday morning, Joliet Police Chief Mike Trafton said. At one point, Trafton said, a bouncer escorted Galvan out of the tavern. Once they got outside, Trafton said, the bouncer was jumped and beaten. But the bouncer wasn't the only one severely beaten that night. When the…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
We heard those video games make people all crazy.
A Joliet man lashed out when he was refused the right to rent a video game console, shouting obscenities and threatening Rent-A-Center employees, police said. Duan Lewis, 18, of 506 Whitley Ave. was charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the 2:45 p.m. Monday incident at the 2128 W. Jefferson St. rental place. For some reason, staff at the Rent-A-Center rejected Lewis when he tried to rent a video game console. Apparently upset by this, Lewis erupted with a vulgar outburst and threatened to return to the business to "get" people, police said. When the law showed up, Lewis was verbally abusive to officers as well, police said, and he was arrested. Lewis was released on his own recognizance. A pair of brothers were arrested for …
Sunday, March 27, 2011
FEMA's talking about quarantining Shorewood due to an epidemic of awesomeness infecting the population.
We at the Shorewood Patch have said it before and we'll say it again: Shorewood is a great place with great people and great stuff going on. And as far as great stuff going on, this past week was just teeming with even more evidence of all the fantastic things afoot in Shorewood. All the excitement defies description, so let's not even try to capture the magnificence with mere words. Instead, let's just sit back and look at what happened last week with another edition of the Shorewood Rewind: A Joliet woman charged with battery and domestic battery in connection with a knife fight in a Tinley Park apartment tells her side of the story to the Shorewood Patch. Jamie Katro said either her former lover, Stacy Bouquet, or Bouquet's husband, a …
LWC Alumni 08
9:05 pm on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
I know everyone who is siding with Eric obviously knew him and was a good friend and it is beyond terrible what happened. But I knew Joe Messina in High School and he truly is one of the nicest and most loved guys around. It could have happened to anyone while out drinking. Not many people will ever really know the full truth, and you guys act like he doesn't feel bad, but I'm sure he would do … more ›