What started as an argument at a wedding reception kept escalating Friday night, leaving a man with life-threatening injuries and a second charged with slashing him in the neck with a broken beer bottle in northwest suburban Woodstock.
Just before midnight Friday, police were called to the Best Western Woodstock Inn at 990 Lake Ave. for a fight involving “numerous individuals,” according to police.
Officers found “a large crowd of people in the parking lot, who were in a heightened agitated state.”
One man, a 27-year-old Glendale Heights resident, had suffered a laceration to his neck, and after being treated by paramedics, was flown by helicopter to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, police said. His injuries were considered “life threatening.”
After things were calmed down, police learned that after the wedding and reception in northwest suburban Harvard, several guests were taken by shuttle to the Best Western.
Witnesses said before the end of the reception, “a verbal argument took place which continued once the guests arrived at the hotel. A physical confrontation also took place with multiple individuals involved.”
At some point, one of the guests “used a broken beer bottle and intentionally lunged at and struck the victim, causing a deep laceration into the upper chest/lower neck area,” police said.
Police arrested 31-year-old Jeffrey D. Kerley of the 0-100 block of North Muirhead Road in Elgin. He was charged with one felony count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, police said.
Kerley was released the next day after posting 10 percent of a $20,000 bond, and will next appear in court on July 25.
Police said the victim remained in the hospital as of Monday morning.
