Elgin man charged with biting off part of man's finger, DUI crash

An Elgin man was being held on $80,000 bail on charges he bit off part of a man's index finger during a fight and later crashed into a utility pole while drunk.

Gabriel Garcia-Garcia, 41, of the 300 block of Cornell Lane, faces a felony charge of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and two counts of misdemeanor battery stemming from a fight Saturday morning at a residence on the 37W500 block of Big Timber Road near Elgin, authorities said.

Kane County Sheriff's Department Lt. Pat Gengler said deputies were called to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin at about 5 a.m. for a 39-year-old man who was injured in a fight in which the top of his left index finger was bitten off.

"At the time, it did not sound as if medical personnel were going to be able to reattach the finger," Gengler said.

According to a sheriff's report, Garcia-Garcia and other men where drinking in a garage on Big Timber when he began to get "rowdy," throwing beer cans about. After a man tried to restrain Garcia-Garcia, he punched the victim in the face, the report said.

The victim wrestled Garcia-Garcia to the ground and at some point, Garcia-Garcia bit off about one inch of the victim's left index finger, from the tip to the first finger joint, according to the report.

The victim and another person retrieved the severed finger piece and drove to the hospital. Garcia-Garcia drove off, Gengler said.

Garcia-Garcia was arrested at about 7:34 a.m. after he struck orange barriers and a utility pole near Walnut Avenue and South Street in Elgin, according to court records. Garcia-Garcia refused field sobriety tests, but a chemical test later showed his blood alcohol concentration to be .18. The legal threshold for drivers in Illinois is .08.

Garcia-Garcia also was charged with felony aggravated DUI for driving without a license or insurance, along with criminal damage to property, and driving too fast for conditions, according to court records.

If convicted of the aggravated battery charge, Garcia-Garcia faces a prison term of up to 15 years. The felony DUI charges carry a punishment ranging from probation to up to three years in prison.

Garcia-Garcia is next due in court Friday.