Duo Stabs Victim Multiple Times, Sets Pant Leg On Fire: Mt Prospect PD

MOUNT PROSPECT, IL — A Mount Prospect man has been charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder, stemming from a violent attack of a person last month. Manuel Rivera Jr., 18, of the 300 block of W. Hawthorne Circle, is accused of felony attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.

Rivera Jr. remains in the Cook County Jail and is due back in court on May 17. Police are searching for a second suspect in the April 6 incident and have released a photo obtained from video surveillance.

At 1:12 p.m. April 7, police responded to a vacant business building in the 1400 block of S. Elmhurst Road, for a report of a person being battered and stabbed. The victim told police he had been attacked by two people the previous day. The duo had punched him in the face, set his pant leg on fire, and stabbed him multiple times in the midsection and leg.

The victim said they had lost consciousness during the attack and after regaining consciousness, realized their phone was missing. They walked to the 1700 block W. Dempster Street and had someone call 911. Mount Prospect firefighters arrived at the scene and took him to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for treatment of his wounds. Police said the victim is expected to survive.

During the subsequent investigation, police learned the victim was hanging out with two teenagers during the evening of April 6 at the vacant business building. The victim had let the teenagers borrow his phone, but when he asked for it back, they began the attack.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved the charges for Rivera Jr.

Police said the other person involved in the attack has been identified as a 17-year-old runaway and is currently wanted by police. He is described as Hispanic, with straight brown hair approximately chin length, 5-foot-6, weighs approximately 140 pounds and has a tattoo of a rosary on his right hand.