During today's court hearing for Zachary Konecki, the motorcyclist charged with groping a female cyclist on Milwaukee Avenue and punching out her husband last September, Judge Catherine Marie Haberkorn granted the defendant another delay, as well as permission to travel to St. Louis for Easter weekend to spend time with his family.
Before the hearing, Konecki's attorney told him, “One of the things [the prosecurition] have to prove is great bodily harm and concussion is great bodily harm,” he explained to his client while waiting for Haberkorn to arrive.
During the hearing, Konecki’s attorney asked for the delay in order to get more time to examine the audio of the surveillance video of the incident, as well as to look at the husband’s hospital records.
The next hearing will take place on May 16 at noon at the Cook County Circuit Court’s Skokie Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road, in Room 107. Haberkorn emphasized that she wasn’t granting Konecki permission to travel lightly. "If you are not here on May 16, there will be a warrant for your arrest,” she said, adding that if he doesn’t show up, he will still be tried in absentia.
“Have a happy Easter,” the judge said before moving on to the next case. “Stay out of trouble.”
As Streetsblog has previously reported, the alleged assault took place on September 22, when a couple was biking northwest on Milwaukee Avenue near Augusta Boulevard. Konecki, 30, and his companion allegedly rode up to the cyclists on mini-cycles, and Koenicki groped the woman. Her husband chased the bikers down and confronted them, and when he turned to talk to the second motorcyclist, Konecki allegedly punched him in the face while wearing gloves with reinforced knuckles. The husband was knocked unconscious with a concussion, and the motorcyclists fled the scene.
Konecki was arrested last November and charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery. While he has no prior convictions in Cook County, the Daily Herald reported that in 2008 he was arrested in his home in northwest-suburban Island Lake and charged with possession of 326 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful use of brass knuckles, and filing a false police report.
