Community Corner
Joliet Woman Sues Neighbors, Claims She Was Subjected To Ethnic Slurs And Physical Abuse
The woman claims her family was called "f---ing Mexicans" and that she was told to "go back to Mexico."
A resident of Joliet’s Salma Street sued her neighbors, claiming they subjected her to ethnic slurs and physical abuse.
Araceli Gonzalez filed the lawsuit and included her daughter, Vianey Gonzalez, as a plaintiff. Gonzalez accused Dino, Kathleen and Camille Presti of “battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and trespass to property,” according to the lawsuit.
The suit said the Gonzalezes and Prestis live two doors down from each other on the far west side street.
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The Gonzalezes endured the Prestis “verbally assaulting” them “by calling them ‘f---ing Mexicans,’ telling (Gonzalez) to ‘go back to Mexico,’ and insulting them by telling them to ‘learn English.’”
Dino Presti also once pressed his index finger against Gonzalez’s head, the suit said, and Kathleen Presti “mocked Araceli because of her race, her inability to speak English fluently, and Kathleen’s superior income, including shouting at her that ‘I make more money in one day than you will in a year working at Portillo’s!’”
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In May, Dino Presti sought a protective court order against Gonzalez.
“My son was playing in her front yard,” Dino Presti said in his petition for the order. “My son observed Araceli taking photographs of him, then she started screaming at him.”
The boy ran home with Gonzalez following him, the petition said.
“She told me my son is sick and should not be outside,” Dino Presti said. “She speaks Spanish and what I picked up from my Spanenglis (sic) was f--- you, you people are pathetic.”
Dino Presti also said Gonzalez slapped him in the face when he intervened in a confrontation between her and his wife.
Judge Marilee Viola denied Presti’s request for a protective order.
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