Baseball Bat Attack On South Larkin Avenue Lands Joliet Man In Handcuffs, Weapon Confiscated: Police

JOLIET, IL —The Joliet Police Department announced that 61-year-old Michael Quinn was arrested over the weekend on charges of aggravated battery. Quinn is accused of using a baseball bat to inflict harm upon his victim along Joliet's busy South Larkin Avenue corridor.

According to police spokesman Dwayne English, at 9:12 p.m. on Saturday, officers responded to the 200 block of South Larkin for a report of a man striking a person with a baseball bat. Responding officers were advised that the suspect had fled in a vehicle.

While checking the area, officers found a male victim walking nearby who had sustained head and facial injuries from being struck with a bat. The victim was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center by the Joliet Fire Department for treatment of their injuries, according to police.

During this investigation, English noted, officers learned that the victim and suspect, identified as Quinn, knew each other.

"It is alleged that during an argument with the victim in a nearby parking lot, Quinn retrieved a metal baseball bat from his vehicle and struck the victim multiple times before fleeing the scene," English said.

Officers located Quinn a short time later at the Motel 6, 1850 McDonough St., and he was placed into custody without incident. Quinn was processed at the Joliet Police Department and released on a notice to appear in court.

Quinn was the focus of a Joliet Patch crime story in late December. Patch reported that Quinn, then 60, of Joliet's near west side, would spend his Christmas holidays inside the Will County Jail after Will County Judge Derek Ewanic imposed a SAFE-T Act ruling to keep the long-time domestic violence defendant in custody.

At the time, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Quinn with two counts of domestic battery following his arrestb in the 400 block of West Washington Street, which is near North Center and Hickory Streets.

The complaint indicates that on Dec. 17, Quinn struck a woman in the back, and this marks his fifth or subsequent violation. Prosecutors notified Judge Ewanic that Quinn's prior domestic battery convictions in Will County were in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2021.