Disfigured Joliet Man Tells of Roommate Ripping Lip From His Face: Petition

A Joliet man told the shocking tale of his drunken roommate ripping his lip from his face in a jealous rage.

“He got to my mouth and pulled my lip off, I was bleeding badly,” 61-year-old Brod Banas said of the attack by his roommate, Bernard Castleberry, 59. Banas told the story in a petition for a protective court order.

Banas, Castleberry and Castleberry’s 56-year-old lady friend — who all lived together in the same North Broadway house —were “sitting around” early Monday morning and “had been drinking” when Castleberry accused Banas of wanting his woman, police said.

The woman tried to get Castleberry to go to bed, police said, and Castleberry responded by grabbing her by the arm. The roommate then intervened and Castleberry allegedly tore the lip from the man’s face.

“The lip was totally detached,” police said, and the man “had blood all over his shirt.”

In his petition for the protective order, which was granted by Judge Chrystel Gavlin on Monday, Banas said Castleberry was drunk and “threatening other people in the house.”

“I got between them and Bernard and he came after me,” Banas said. “Bernard swung at me, I pushed him down (and was) trying to keep him pinned down. He was screaming and yelling and because he was so drunk he was incoherent.”

That was when Castleberry caught hold of Banas’ lip and yanked it off, the petition said.

Banas said Castleberry also slashed his arm with a knife last month but he did not bother calling the police about it.

“Bernard has attacked me a few other times when he was drunk, hitting me in the face,” Banas said. “I fear for my safety when Bernard gets out of jail.”

Castleberry won’t be getting out of jail anytime soon unless he scrapes together $5,000 for bail.