$500K bond for man charged with stabbing at Art Institute garden

An Ashburn man was held on a $500,000 bond Friday for stabbing another man in the neck at the South Garden of the Art Institute, authorities said.

Michael Wims, 29, was charged with one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm after he was identified as the man who stabbed a 57-year-old man in the neck about 4:35 p.m. Thursday in the 200 block of South Michigan, police said.

Wims had asked the victim if he had a cigarette, Assistant State’s Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said at a bond hearing Friday.

When the victim said no, Wims took out a steak knife and began stabbing the man in the neck and body, Scaduto said.

The victim suffered stab wounds to his neck and abdomen and lacerations to his neck, forearms and hands, according to police and prosecutors. He was listed in critical condition early Friday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Wims later told police he was bipolar and hadn’t been taking his medication for a year, Scaduto said.

Wims, of the 8100 block of South Artesian, was ordered held on a $500,000 bond.