Elmhurst Restaurant Incident Leads To Felony Charge

ELMHURST, IL – A Chicago man told police that a group of men attacked him earlier this month after he tried to defend his girlfriend at an Elmhurst restaurant.

To get the police department's attention, he admitted to lying that a man was holding a gun to his head, police said.

Jack Brennan, 28, of Chicago, faces a felony charge of filing a false report, which is considered disorderly conduct.

Through a public records request, Patch obtained the full police report.

Shortly after midnight April 2, police received a call from Brennan, who said a man wearing a blue coat and white shirt had a gun to his head, police said. He said he was at 100 South Chop House in downtown Elmhurst.

A manager told officers that a fight had taken place inside the restaurant. Most had left before police arrived.

Brennan's girlfriend told police that a woman was hitting Brennan in the head with a cellphone, according to the report.

Brennan told officers he lied about the man with the gun, police said.

Brennan said he and his girlfriend were walking out of the restaurant when his girlfriend was thrown against the wall, the report said. He said he tried to defend her, but was attacked and punched in the head by five men, police said.

Brennan said he feared for his life, so he called 911 and made up the story about a man with a gun to get police to respond faster, according to the report.

He offered to pay any fines for making the false report, police said. Police said Brennan's eyes were bloodshot and that they could smell a strong odor of alcohol on him.

Officers said they could find no injuries on Brennan, except a small scratch on his chest.

In an interview with police, Brennan admitted words were exchanged before he was thrown against the wall, police said. He then said 15 to 20 people attacked him, saying he was punched in the head multiple times and ended up on the ground. He said he never saw a gun, the report said.

Brennan told officers he did not know his attackers and could not describe them.

His girlfriend told police that they were celebrating a friend's engagement at the nearby Pazzi di Pizza earlier. Some of them later went to 100 South Chop House.

Brennan was taken to the DuPage County Jail.