Twin Brothers Accused of Beating Man With Golf Club

WORTH, IL -- Identical twin brothers are accused of breaking a young man’s shin with a golf club and collapsible baton following a confrontation in a gas station parking lot. Reda and Yassir Abbaoui, 18, of Worth, appeared handcuffed together before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a felony charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The assistant public defender reminded the judge that “there are two sides to every story.”

Around 11:37 a.m. Aug. 14, the twin brothers are said to have approached the young man and his girlfriend in the parking lot of the Circle K gas station at 106th Street and Southwest Highway in Worth. An argument ensued, when the brothers allegedly attacked the young man with a golf club and collapsible baton. Seeing the alleged victim laying on the ground, a citizen drove across public easement to render aid. The young man suffered a broken tibia, and was scheduled for surgery, the prosecutor said.

The gas station security camera captured the brothers’ meeting with the man and his girlfriend, but it did not show the alleged beating. The golf club was found nearby, but Worth police did not find the baton. The brothers say that was because there was no baton.

The Moroccan-born twins said in a post-bond court interview, where both are on house arrest while their case is pending, say they’ve seen the young man around the neighborhood. The twins claim the young man spits and yells racial slurs at them and their Moroccan friends.

“I told [my friends] to ignore him. He’s not worth it,” Yassir said.

The morning of the alleged beating, Yassir had gone to the Circle K to fill up a gas can for his car that was out of gas. Yassire says he encountered the young man and girlfriend, who asked Yassir “where are your boys?”

Threatening to kill the teen, Yassir said the young man changed his tone, hugged and thanked him for juice and candy that the twins had given to him a few weeks before.

“One moment he’s friendly another moment he wants to fight me,” Yassir said.

The twins went back to the strip mall to pick up a pizza. Reda was unaware of his brother’s earlier encounter. On their way to get the pizza, Reda says he picked up a golf club that a neighbor kid left strewn in the yard. The young man again confronted the twins and accused them of trying to “hit on my girl.” According to Yassir, the man slugged him in the chest. When he came at him again, Yassir said he “swooped” or tripped the young man, who fell down on the curb. His brother Reda was holding the golf club when Worth police arrived. The twins insist they never beat the man with a golf club or a collapsible baton, just “swooped” him. The boys spent the next two days in the Worth lock up, trying to keep warm inside the jail with plastic sheets.

“I didn’t touch him,” Reda said. “His girlfriend was in my face screaming ‘don’t touch him.’ I told her ‘I’m not going to touch him.’ When police came [the man and his girlfriend] were throwing down threats.”

The assistant public defender told the judge that the brothers currently work in a hookah lounge. Their parents are out of the country caring for a sick grandmother, and the teens are currently living with an aunt.

“There are two sides to every story,” the assistant public defender said.

“Seems to me like they’re without supervision,” Felice said.

The brothers were told not to stay away from the young man and his girlfriend. The judge also put them on home confinement with weekly pre-trial reporting and drug testing through the courts while their case is pending.

“I want them on a strict curfew except to go to school. No work,” Felice said. “If I found out you’re outside your home on Saturday and Sunday except to a religious service, I’m going to revoke your bond.”

“No work,” one of the brothers asked.

“Unless you want to go to jail,” the judge said.

~ This story has been updated with new information.