Peace And Harmony For Sushi Ya?

JOLIET, IL — Will County Circuit Judge David Carlson agreed to ease the conditions of bail for the co-owner of Sushi Ya, Xiong Zheng, at a hearing Monday morning. The judge's order paves the way for the popular sushi restaurant on West Jefferson Street to reopen for business this week.

Last Tuesday night, Joliet Police arrested Zheng, 53, on two counts of aggravated battery involving a deadly weapon and at a public place. Zheng is accused of stabbing one of his cooks in the hand with a meat cleaver.

The cook was also arrested by police on a misdemeanor battery charge.

According to Zheng's criminal defense lawyer, Jeff Tomczak of Tomczak Law Group, last week's incident in the Sushi Ya kitchen was a giant misunderstanding between two incredibly hardworking employees who work under enormous pressure inside the busy kitchen.

On Monday, Judge Carlson agreed with Tomczak's request to change the conditions of bail for his client.

"Defendant is allowed to have contact with the Sushi Ya restaurant located at 2721 West Jefferson Street, Joliet. Defendant is also allowed to have no offensive contact with the purported victim," Carlson's ruling states.

As for the cook, Branden Bruzzo, Zheng "shall continue to have no contact with Branden Bruzzo outside of contact of an employment situation," the judge announced Monday.

The next pretrial hearing for Zheng's criminal case is set for Jan. 29 in front of Judge Carlson.

On Monday afternoon, Tomczak told Joliet Patch thatSushi Ya would probably reopen for business on Tuesday, Jan. 14 after being closed the past week following the kitchen stabbing.