Downers Grove man accused of slashing mother with ax

A Downers Grove man accused of slashing his 80-year-old mother in the face and head with an ax on Mother's Day is being held on $500,000 bail.

John Flick, 57, of the 4000 block of Earlston Road, is charged with aggravated battery to a senior citizen.

DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Nicole Wilkes-English said Flick's sister went to visit her mother for the holiday and found the woman with lacerations all over her head and face.

"The attack literally split the victim's nose in half," Wilkes-English said.

The two women went to the hospital for treatment, and hospital authorities alerted Downers Grove police.

Authorities said the attack apparently took place on May 13 when Flick returned, intoxicated, to the home he shared with his mother and, at some point, attacked her. Wilkes-English said the woman's bed was covered with dried blood and there were an ax and machete near the bed.

She said Flick was upset about recently having his 15-year-old daughter taken from his custody and he was "not happy with the way his mother was influencing his daughter."

"Domestic violence can take many forms and is not confined to spousal abuse," DuPage State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. "The allegations in this case, however, are truly sickening. The very idea that someone would attack another human with an ax, let alone their own mother, is shocking."

Flick's attorney, Patrick Weiland, maintains Flick does not know how his mother was injured and told Judge Joseph Bugos that Flick's sisters support him and don't think he harmed their mother.

Flick appeared Friday morning in bond court, where Bugos set bail at $500,000. Flick's next court appearance is scheduled for June 12 in front of Judge Liam Brennan.