'I'm going to finish you': 73-year-old with dementia beaten by road rage driver who 'plowed into' couple's car, police say

An Illinois antheral is down bars for a road rage incidental that near a septuagenarian with dementia severely beaten, injured, and acrophobic for his life, according to instrumentality enforcement successful the Land of Lincoln.

D'Angelo Groce, 41, stands accused of 2 counts of aggravated battery, according to the Oak Lawn Police Department.

The underlying incidental occurred successful precocious November, astatine an intersection adjacent a state presumption successful Oak Lawn – a medium-sized suburb of Chicago.

On the time successful question, Joseph and Deborah, who asked that their past names not beryllium used, were conscionable trying to get into the close turning lane.

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As the mates maneuvered their vehicle, however, a motortruck changeable retired from a adjacent state presumption and chopped them off, according to reports by CBS News and Chicago-based radio presumption WBBM.

The pistillate past sprung into action; addressing the operator of the different car – who is alleged to person been Groce.

"When I tried to get over, helium sped up and plowed into me," Deborah told the section outlet. "I got retired of the car and said, 'What the hell, dude?' He didn't accidental a word. He came up to maine and pushed me. I went backwards, and erstwhile I went backwards, I landed connected my elbows. My glasses went flying backwards. I mislaid my telephone connected Cicero Avenue."

But that incidental allegedly did not extremity things.

Joseph, who is 73 years aged and was diagnosed with dementia 3 years ago, got up to effort to assistance his wife.

At that point, Groce allegedly punched the antheral and knocked him to the ground.

Deborah recalled a harrowing soundtrack accompanying the alleged violence. She said she heard Groce telling her husband: "Get up again, mf–er, and I'm going to decorativeness you," arsenic Joseph struggled to get up.

"I was truthful upset," the woman continued. "I was crying. I was saying, 'Stop it. Stop hitting him!'"

Witnesses astatine the country called constabulary and Groce was arrested.

Ultimately, Joseph suffered a breached nose, breached jaw, 2 breached teeth, and scrapes connected some hands, the mates said.

"I thought helium was going to termination him," Deborah told CBS News.

The man's woman went connected to papers however costly the convulsive occurrence was – peculiarly successful airy of the vacation play – and said the car repairs unsocial outgo successful excess of $2,000.

"We person nary dental insurance," she said. "It's similar $7,000 we had to wage to get his country done."

Deborah said the symptom caused to Joseph was heartbreaking.

"He's going done enough, and to spell done this overmuch symptom that he's been through, it's conscionable wholly unnecessary," she added.

Groce has a lengthy database of anterior run-ins with instrumentality enforcement, according to CBS News.

The suspect was antecedently convicted of burglary successful 2010; helium was convicted of home unit successful 2012; helium was convicted of aggravated artillery with a deadly limb and aggravated battle with a centrifugal conveyance successful 2020.

In the contiguous case, Groce is being detained successful the Cook County Jail without bond, sheriff's bureau records show.

The suspect is adjacent slated to look successful tribunal connected Dec. 19.