La Grange Battery Suspect Wanted Selfie: Cops

LA GRANGE, IL – A man with a Countryside address asked a La Grange Public Library patron for a selfie before hitting him last week, police said.

Gregory Rogala, 47, was charged with battery. Patch obtained the police report through a public records request.

About 9:30 a.m. Jan. 18, Rogala entered the room next to the lobby at the library and asked a man who was using his laptop for a selfie, then struck him, according to the library.

Other library patrons got between them to defuse the situation, police said. Rogala then left.

Video of the incident showed Rogala approaching the man with his phone and hitting him, police said.

Just before the incident, Rogala was heard asking someone, "Have the old men got the golf balls?" and calling out to a woman with her children, "Cousin!," according to the report.

An officer spotted Rogala near the library. When asked whether he had been in a fight, Rogala said people had made "speculations" about him for some reason, police said.

Rogala gave the police his library card when asked for his identification. He told officers he was homeless, though the police listed him as living in the 5600 block of South Peck Avenue in Countryside. (Property tax records show that someone with the same last name as the homeowner.)

Rogala later admitted to striking the man, police said.

He was then released and told about the local Beds Plus homeless shelter.