Wilmette Man: I wasn't Involved in Rogers Park Assault

Wilmette resident Jabar Azami, 26, will be in court tomorrow on a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from his alleged involement. He says he is innocent of the charge, and did nothing more than have the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jabar and his brother, Jalaal Azami, who was also there during the alleged assault, sat down with Patch to tell their side of what happened that night.

"I don’t know if it was guilty by association, and I would understand if I had something to do with it if it. ... But I didn’t do anything," Jabar said.

Jabar was arrested with a group of men. One of them, 18-year-old Walter Gonzalez of the 5000 block of North Western Avenue, was charged with felony aggravated battery, according to police.

The altercation started when the victim and his wife walked past a group standing near the corner of Devon and Oakley avenues, according to Jalaal. Jalaal, Jabar and a female friend were standing with the group.

"There’s about six or seven of us. We’re drinking, standing on the corner," Jalaal said. "This man [the victim] walks by with his wife. Someone says something to his wife. He turned around and started cursing at us.”

Jalaal said he tried to stop the incident from escalating. But as he and Jabar were leaving the man was punched in the face. After being struck, the man then tripped, hitting his head on a car and then falling to the ground, Jalaal said. The incident occurred around 2 a.m., Jalaal said.

"The kid that hit him he looked like he came from across the street—he wasn’t even in our group," Jabar said. "He came from across the street and punched him and that’s when the guy hit his head on the car."

After the fight, Jabar and Jalaal said they headed south on Claremont Avenue, and went into an apartment building to continue drinking. Shortly after, Jabar left. He was later arrested by authorities who were in the area responding to the assault.

"My brother stepped out and the cops grabbed him too," Jalaal said, adding that he didn't realize Jabar was arrested until about an hour later.

While being interviewed by police, Jabar said he hadn't called the cops following the fight because he didn't want to be implicated in the crime. Detectives later called Jalaal to the station to hear his side of the story, Jabar said.

Jabar was released later in the day that Saturday.

"We hope the guy who got hit is okay." Jalaal said. "The dude that did it was young and did it without thinking."

Jabar's case continues with a hearing July 6 at the Belmont Avenue and Western Avenue Chicago Courthouse.