Forearm severed in chain saw attack; judge calls it 'scene out of a horror movie'
An Arlington Heights man who authorities say attacked the boyfriend of his estranged wife with a chain saw was ordered held on $2.5 million bail Wednesday.
Jose A. Jaimes-Jiminez, 27, was charged with attempted first-degree murder in the Monday attack, which severed the 39-year-old victim's forearm, after what Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo characterized as “a scene out of a horror movie.”
Jaimes-Jiminez, of the 4000 block of Bonhill Drive, also faces attempted murder charges because he is accused of ramming his car head-on into the other man's car with such force that both air bags deployed. And Jaimes-Jiminez is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery.
The attack occurred about 1 p.m. Monday in an Arlington Heights office complex parking lot on the 500 block of West Golf Road.
“This is as close to a first-degree murder charge as you can get,” said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Maria McCarthy, who described in grisly detail the man's injuries.
McCarthy said the bone in the man's left forearm was “completely severed and the forearm was only attached by a portion of skin and a tendon.”
Doctors at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights inserted a metal plate and pins into the man's arm during surgery, McCarthy said. His blood loss was so extensive that he was still receiving blood transfusions late Tuesday afternoon, more than 24 hours after the attack, McCarthy said.
Jaimes-Jiminez and the man met three days earlier at a store. An argument ensued and Jaimes-Jiminez told the man they would talk later.
According to prosecutors, Jaimes-Jiminez was in the parking lot of the office where the man and the defendant's wife work about lunchtime Monday. As the man and woman prepared to leave the parking lot in the man's vehicle, Jaimes-Jiminez blocked them in, then exited his vehicle carrying a running chain saw, McCarthy said.
McCarthy described the ensuing scene: Jaimes-Jiminez swung the chain saw at his wife and the man, who tried to exit the parking lot another way. At that point, Jaimes-Jiminez struck the other car with his own. He again exited his vehicle and chased the man around the damaged cars with a chain saw until the man stumbled and fell to the ground.
As the victim raised his arms to protect himself, Jaimes-Jiminez lowered the chain saw, slicing through bone. The victim, who also suffered cuts to his right elbow and a superficial wound to his stomach, managed to kick Jaimes-Jiminez in the groin and run into the office complex.
The woman and several of her co-workers witnessed the event and identified Jaimes-Jiminez to police, police said. The defendant was found lying on the ground in his underwear next to the chain saw.
He told police he removed his clothes so they would know he was not armed, McCarthy said. Jaimes-Jiminez, who works trimming trees and uses a chain saw on the job, told authorities he became enraged after seeing his wife and the man leaving work together and wanted to “hurt the victim and send a message,” McCarthy said.
If convicted of the most serious crimes, Jaimes-Jiminez faces up to 30 years in prison.
He next appears in court July 14.