January 04, 2013
Five Indiana men involved in an attack last May at the Ashford House Restaurant in Tinley Park pled guilty Friday, Jan. 4, according to a release from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.
Jason Sutherlin, 33, Cody Sutherlin, 24, Dylan Sutherlin 20, John Tucker, 26, and Alex Stuck, 22, all of Indiana, each pled guilty to three counts of armed violence and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three-and-a-half to six years, the release said.
The defendants were charged with storming into a Tinley Park restaurant wielding batons and other handheld weapons and attacking a group of men who they believed were part of a white supremacist group, according to the release.
According to prosecutors, the five defendants were members of an extreme and violent anti-racist group who along with at least 13 other individuals rushed into the Ashford House Restaurant to confront members of the Illinois European Heritage Association who were meeting at the restaurant. The defendants covered themselves with hoods, masks, scarves and gloves and wore dark clothing to conceal their identity.
Around 12:40 p.m. May 19, the defendants as well as the 13 other individuals entered the restaurant wearing hoods, masks, scarves and gloves and carrying bats, metal batons, asps and numchucks. The group entered the restaurant in a single file line and walked directly to where members of the opposition group were sitting, and began assaulting and striking those members as well as other civilians in the restaurant.
Three restaurant patrons who had nothing to do with either group were also seriously injured in the melee and were treated at local hospitals for head injuries and lacerations.
"We have zero tolerance for this type of hateful violence which in this case was carried out in a terrorizing attack in the midst of unsuspecting citizens eating lunch in a quiet family restaurant," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in the release. "We are extremely pleased that these men have pled guilty and will be held accountable for these reckless and violent acts and will face appropriate prison sentences."
According to prosecutors, after striking multiple people, the defendants fled and were seen leaving in the same car, which headed eastbound on 159th Street. Tinley Park police saw the defendants traveling southbound on Harlem Avenue and pulled the car over, and officers observed hooded black sweatshirts, scarves and asps in plain view in the car.
A GPS device was later recovered from that car and it showed that the defendants' car was at the scene of the crime during the time period of the attack.
Stuck was identified by multiple witnesses in a lineup as one of the attackers in the restaurant. Tucker, Jason Sutherlin and Cody Sutherlin were tentatively identified by other witnesses. Tucker and Stuck later admitted to being in the restaurant to protest and were present during the attack that occurred.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Carmen Aguilar sentenced the defendants to the Illinois Department of Corrections during a court hearing this afternoon at the Bridgeview Courthouse to the following terms in prison: Jason Sutherlin, six years, Cody and Dylan Sutherlin, each sentenced to five years, and Tucker and Stuck, each sentenced to three-and-a-half years.
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