St. Charles man charged in stabbing

St. Charles police said a 24-year-old man was lucky to be alive Friday after a vicious stabbing on the city's west side.

The stabbing took place shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday when a fight between two men erupted at a party on the 300 block of South Fourth Street.

"During the fight, the offender pulls out a knife and starts slashing this guy around his throat and face," police spokesman Paul McCurtain said Friday. "He stabbed him once in the chest but missed everything (vital organs)."

The victim was taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva with injuries that weren't life threatening, McCurtain said.

The offender, later identified as Garrett C. Ginn, 26, of the 200 block of West Main Street, ran away and was arrested walking in the 0-100 block of East State Street in Geneva less than 30 minutes later, police said.

Ginn was charged with aggravated battery, armed violence and misdemeanor battery. The most serious charge is a Class 2 felony with a standard sentencing range of three to seven years in prison or probation.

He also was charged with possession of a controlled substance after cocaine was found during a search, police said.

Authorities said the fight happened after Ginn punched a woman in the face at the party, and partygoers forced him outside, where he pulled out a lock-blade pocket knife and began slashing the victim several times. The weapon was later recovered.

"If it would have been a little bit deeper it could have been life-threatening," McCurtain said.

St. Charles police credited their counterparts in Geneva as well as witnesses for Ginn's quick arrest. He was taken to the Kane County jail, where he remained in custody Friday afternoon. Ginn is set to appear in Kane County Circuit Court on April 30 before Judge James C. Hallock. Bond information was not immediately available.