Police: Man stabbed with broken bottle in post-wedding fight

An argument at a Woodstock hotel after a wedding reception escalated into a fight in which a Glendale Heights man was stabbed with a broken bottle and hospitalized, according to police.

Jeffrey D. Kerley, 31, of Elgin was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Woodstock police say Kerley, of the 11N0-99 block of Muirhead Lane, used a broken beer bottle to stab the 27-year-old victim late Friday night outside the hotel at 990 Lake Ave.

According to police, a wedding was held earlier that night in Harvard and people attending the reception took a shuttle back to the hotel. An argument ensued, and it soon became physical as police were called at 11:50 p.m. for a fight on the parking lot.

"After interviewing numerous witnesses, it was learned that during the assault, 31-year-old Elgin resident Jeffrey D. Kerley used a broken beer bottle and intentionally lunged at and struck the victim, causing a deep laceration into the upper chest/lower neck area of the victim," Woodstock police said in a media release.

The victim was hospitalized through Monday; Woodstock police could not immediately be reached Tuesday for an update on the man's condition or more information about what caused the fight.

Kerley posted $20,000 bail Saturday and has been released from the McHenry County jail while the case is pending. He did not have any previous felony arrests in McHenry or Kane counties, only traffic tickets, according to court records.

He is next due in court July 25.