Facebook Helps Identify Beating Victim's Attackers
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Five young men who allegedly beat up the owner of a Northwest Side pizza parlor early Sunday morning were arrested after the victim recognized one of the suspects as his son's hockey teammate and used his Facebook page to identify the other culprits, authorities said.
The 49-year-old owner of Baci Pizzeria was beaten after he confronted Aaron Diaz and Carlo Suarez for harassing one of the other employees of the restaurant, 3235 N. Harlem, Cook County state's attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.
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All five men, including Diaz, 20, and Suarez, 17, hit the owner in the face with their fists before running off, Conklin said.
The owner called police and chased the group until he caught up to them a few blocks later near a white van, Conklin said.
Some of the men came out the van and allegedly began punching and kicking the victim as he fell to the ground. The restaurant owner then felt one of his attackers reach into his pocket and steal his cell phone and wallet, Conklin said.
"This is what you get for messing with the wolf gang," one of the men told their prey, Conklin said.
Diaz and Suarez, both of Elmwood Park, were arrested on the scene.
The victim recognized Suarez as one the men who played hockey with his son. So when he went home, his daughter and his son looked at Suarez's Facebook friends and were able to identify the other three men involved.
Diaz, Suarez, Arlind Nikolla, 21, of an unknown address, Matu Szluszczek, 20, and Joseph Wolf, 19, both of Elmwood Park, were all ordered held in lieu of $40,000 bail for aggravated battery and armed robbery charges Monday.
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