Christmas Stabbing Lands 3 Joliet Downtown Victims In Hospital, Police Arrest This Man

JOLIET, IL — A 39-year-old Joliet man who previously came from the 800 block of North Broadway Street is now being kept in the Will County Jail following a Christmas morning stabbing on the north side of Joliet's downtown that landed three people in St. Joe's hospital.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English revealed that Valentino Aguilar is now charged with two crimes of aggravated battery and one crime of battery.

According to English's account, at 6:29 a.m., the officers responded to a residence in the 500 block of North Chicago Street for a disturbance. English said that an argument inside the residence involving several men escalated into a physical altercation.

"It is believed that Aguilar is a roommate of the victims and that the incident may have been precipitated by an earlier dispute," English pointed out.

During the fight, Aguilar is accused of stabbing a 34-year-old man in the hand with a pocketknife and cutting a 28-year-old man in the face. Aguilar also allegedly struck a 25-year-old man in the face as that man tried to intervene, English indicated.

Following the incident, Aguilar fled the scene in a vehicle. All three victims were transported by the Joliet Fire Department to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the arrest report showed.

A short time later, Joliet's officer spotted the getaway vehicle near Ruby Street and Hickory Street and conducted a traffic stop. Aguilar was taken into custody and taken by the Joliet Fire Department to Saint Joseph Medical Center for treatment of a head injury sustained during the fight.

As for Aguilar, he had an active Will County warrant for failing to appear in court on a prior matter. After being released from the hospital, Aguilar was processed at the Joliet Police Department and transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility.

Aguilar remained in the county jail as of Monday afternoon.