Geneva hospital attack began with 'smack talk,' man testifies
A Campton Hills man wielded a small knife near relatives and grabbed his brother-in-law by the neck - an altercation at Delnor Hospital in Geneva last year that led to a lockdown, according to trial testimony Wednesday at the man's trial.
Justin B. Patzer, 31, later threatened to kill his sister if she tried to help police find him, testimony also indicated at his bench trial in Kane County. He is accused of armed violence, aggravated domestic battery and other offenses stemming from a Jan. 27, 2015, episode in the hospital's intensive care unit.
No one was stabbed, but the Delnor campus was placed on lockdown for several hours afterward; Patzer eventually was arrested in Indiana.
Jason Weller, Patzer's brother-in-law, testified that the two had a disagreement on social media before Jan. 27. Weller was critical of a decision made by Patzer's mother to have her vehicle repaired. Patzer suggested the two "fight about it," but Weller declined.
Weller testified that at the hospital, where Patzer's father was in the intensive care unit, Patzer confronted Weller, grabbing him with his right hand by the throat and pushing him up against a wall.
"You like to talk, smack talk," Weller recalled Patzer as saying before Weller used his leg to push in the Patzer in the chest. Patzer's relatives had to hold him back and Weller went outside into the hall. Soon, he saw Patzer holding folding a folding knife, fist raised and the three- to four-inch blade pointed downward. Other relatives scrambled from the room.
Under cross-examination, Weller acknowledged he was not stabbed or hurt from the altercation with Patzer.
Patzer's sister, Monica Weller, testified that she called her brother after he fled the hospital. But he responded with profanities, saying: "I will kill anyone who tries to set me up with the police, including you."
In her opening statement, Assistant Public Defender Julia Yetter acknowledged a disagreement between Patzer and his family, but suggested the weapons charges against her client were exaggerated.
The trial before Judge D.J. Tegeler will resume Thursday morning.
If convicted of the most severe charge, Patzer faces between six and 30 years in prison.