Man gets probation for beating

A Round Lake man was placed on 30 months probation Friday after admitting he attacked a man who had offered him a ride home from a grocery store.

Wojciech Wrona, 27, of the 200 block of Switchgrass Drive, will also be in jail for 18 months when not working or attending drug treatment.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz said the victim, a 45-year-old man from Fox Lake, was a casual acquaintance of Wrona's and offered him a ride home from a Fox Lake grocery store on Aug. 27.

During the ride home, Wrona attacked the man who stopped his car and attempted to run away from Wrona.

Fisz said Wrona chased the man down the street and beat and kicked him as he called police on his cellular phone.

Round Lake police arrived and Wrona arrested him at the scene.

Fisz agreed to drop a charge of robbery against Wrona in exchange for his guilty plea to aggravated battery.

Circuit Judge Fred Foreman said one reason he was not sending Wrona to prison was to allow Wrona to pay restitution to the man, who has more than $24,000 in hospital bills as a result of the attack.