Man stabbed acquaintance 27 times in fatal attack outside NW Side Wendy’s: prosecutors

A man was denied bail Sunday after being accused of stabbing an acquaintance 27 times last week outside a fast food restaurant on the Northwest Side — a fatal attack witnessed by several people and captured on cellphone video.

Michael Dabrowski, 25, of Norwood Park, is charged with first-degree murder in Friday’s grisly killing of 24-year-old Michael Majeski, according to Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors.

Dabrowski had pulled into the parking lot of a Wendy’s in the 3900 block of North Harlem Avenue on Friday afternoon, Assistant State’s Attorney Susanna Bucaro said during his initial court hearing. Majeski arrived separately, then got into Dabrowski’s car, where Dabrowski allegedly began stabbing him, Bucaro said.

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Majeski jumped out of the car. Dabrowski gave chase and stabbed him several times in the back before he fell to the ground near the restaurant’s drive-thru, Bucaro said, adding that while Majeski was on the ground, Dabrowski continued to attack him with the knife.

Three Wendy’s employees were outside and witnessed the attack and a driver in a nearby car captured the stabbing on cellphone video. Witnesses said they noticed Majeski was unarmed and didn’t appear to fight back, Bucaro said. When one asked Dabrowski what was happening, Dabrowski responded cryptically.

“He f’d me over,” Bucaro quoted Dabrowski as saying, though she said he used an expletive.

After Dabrowski tossed the blood-soaked knife in some bushes, he was followed by the individual who recorded the attack and two other witnesses, Bucaro said. Ultimately, neighborhood residents helped the witnesses tackle and detain Dabrowski in the 3900 block of North Nordica Avenue.

Cellphone video posted on Twitter that was purportedly taken after the stabbing appears to show a group of people holding Dabrowski while waiting for police to arrive. The person recording the video comments on the apparent blood on the hand of the person being held down.

“To stab a motherf----- like that, no. Not in front of my eyes, bro,” an onlooker said.

Once in custody, officers brought Dabrowski back to the Wendy’s, where he was identified by five eyewitnesses, Bucaro said. A knife was recovered from the bushes.

Majeski was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead, according to Bucaro and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Dabrowski’s attorney, Brian Sexton, explained his client comes from a “law enforcement family” and has no criminal history. Sexton noted Dabrowski works as a package handler for FedEx, lives with his parents and had a prior relationship with Majeski.

“There was an altercation within the car. Obviously things went way wrong,” Sexton said. “There is a mental health issue in this case.”

Sexton argued his client’s mental state would “severely deteriorate” if he remains custody without the possibility of posting bail. Dabrowski’s parents planned to get him to a mental health professional upon his release, Sexton added.

Judge Susana Ortiz, however, granted Bucaro’s petition to hold Dabrowski without bail, noting the gruesome circumstances and the compelling evidence.

Dabrowski’s next court date was set for Friday.