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Jail detainees accused of attacking man who kicked grocery bagger

Other inmates objected to comments about Floyd, authorities say

Five men being held in the DuPage County jail have been charged with misdemeanor mob action and battery, accused of kicking and punching another detainee in the face Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities said the victim was Bruce Mirabella, who was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for attacking a Jewel-Osco store bagger who has special needs.

Dallas J. Dabney, Arron M. Thompson, Kevin D. James, James Kimbrough and Owen Reneau are accused of attacking Mirabella at 5:24 p.m., according to court records.

According to a spokesman for the sheriff's office, the fight happened in a housing pod they share. The detainees were watching television coverage related to protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Reneau apparently disparaged President Donald Trump, and Mirabella replied by disparaging Floyd.

Dabney, 25, of Broadview, is awaiting trial on charges he carjacked a vehicle April 23 in the drive-through lane of a McDonald's restaurant in Lombard.

Thompson, 24, of Aurora, is charged with robbing a Verizon store Feb. 1 in Lisle.

James, 26, of Naperville, awaits trial on charges he stabbed his mother to death in January 2018 in Downers Grove.

Kimbrough, 22, is accused of robbing a gasoline station in March, and a carjacking in May, in Addison.

Owen Reneau, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder May 27. He shot a man during a fight in 2018 in a Roselle-area recording studio. He is due to be sentenced June 24.

The court documents did not detail the circumstances of the attack on Mirabella.

Mirabella, 51, was convicted in March of one count of aggravated battery.

Authorities charged him with three counts, including an allegation that he punched the bagger, a 27-year-old man who has Asperger's syndrome, in the face.

Mirabella said he hit and kicked the bagger in self-defense, because he thought the bagger was attacking him.

The bagger testified he was walking toward Mirabella, who was in a checkout lane buying liquor, to greet Mirabella and pat him on the back after Mirabella and the cashier had been bantering about baseball teams.

At Mirabella's sentencing Wednesday, prosecutors told the judge Mirabella had been disciplined in the jail in April because he slapped another detainee in the face.

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Arron Thompson
James Kimbrough
Owen Reneau
Kevin James
Dallas Dabney
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