Slashing Victim Heard a 'Click' Before Cut Across Face

NEW LENOX, IL — A 37-year-old New Lenox man is recovering after receiving 100 stitches to his face following a knife attack outside a New Lenox Starbucks last week.

Zach Monahan said he doesn't know what he did that set off a driver on Route 30, but that the next thing he knew, he had pulled over to buy a coffee, but both men had stepped out of their cars in the parking lot. 

By Monahan's account, little was said before they came to blows.

"There was nothing," Monahan said. "That's what troubles me. There was no interaction. He was obviously angry, and all I heard was a click of a boxcutter or a knife."

In the minutes before the altercation Wednesday around 11:30 a.m., Monahan had been driving to work when he decided to stop for a coffee. He noticed a Honda CR-V in the left lane. The driver then moved into the right lane, closely tailing Monahan before switching lanes, speeding ahead in front of him, and pressing the brake several times.

"I don’t know if I was going too slow for him, or what," he said. "I just take my time, I’d rather get there safely, instead of not get there at all."

The man hit Monahan, first striking him in the ches, before Monahan struck back. Monahan recalls hearing the man then mutter, "Alright, mother******," followed by a jab to the nose and a quick swipe with a sharp weapon across his left cheek.

• How to Get News Alerts and Newsletters from Patch

A woman in the car—which he described to police as a dark blue or black Honda CR-V—shouted, "Get in here, let's go" and the man fled the scene. The man is described as white, with long, dark hair pulled into a ponytail. He is also described as having a stocky build,

Monahan, who suffers from mental and physical handicaps from a stroke that he suffered when he was 21, was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where they first stitched a facial artery to help the bleeding, before then taking him to Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. There, a plastic surgeon administered a total of 100 stitches on the inside and outside of his wound.

His sister has taken to social media, sharing graphic photos of his wounds in hopes of tracking down the man who did it.

"Awareness needs to be raised for two reasons," said Eden Daily. "One—obviously to find out who did this, and two, so we can help prevent future occurrences with others."

• view the photos of Zach Monahan's wounds on Facebook