Islamophobic Assault In La Grange Alleged; Woman Faces Felony Charges

LA GRANGE, IL – A woman is facing felony charges after she threatened a Muslim woman with a head-covering south of downtown La Grange, police said.

Cherylyn A. Dzendrowski, 42, who lives in a Tinley Park apartment building, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one hate crime count, authorities said.

Patch obtained the police report through a public records request.

About 6 p.m. May 16, a woman and two men told police they were taking a walk on La Grange Road near 47th Street after dining downtown.

Dzendrowski, who was driving a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan, passed the trio and drove toward them in a possible attempt to intimidate them, according to the report. Someone in the car was believed to have thrown garbage at the group and missed.

The report said Dzendrowski took an "aggressive" U-turn, returned and yelled, "I'm going to kill you, you f-ing b–ch! Go back to your country!"

She is also accused of saying, "F–k you, you f–ing Muslim b–ch."

The victim told police that she believed Dzendrowski targeted them because the suspect thought they were not from the United States due to their physical characteristics.

She and the others said they did not know Dzendrowski.

In mid-June, after an investigation, police went to Dzendrowski's apartment on Tinley Park's Vogt Street. She refused to come downstairs, sending down her 26-year-old daughter, police said.

Officers told the daughter they could not discuss the case with her. She escorted them upstairs.

Dzendrowski agreed to come to the police station for an interview. At the station, she said she did not remember being in La Grange on the day in question and denied involvement, according to the report.

Dzendrowski was arrested June 18.

Her daughter was cited on a disorderly conduct charge. Police said she was in the front seat, making threats and throwing trash toward the pedestrians.

News of the La Grange arrest comes to light a month after another incident in a nearby suburb.

In July, a 51-year-old Clarendon Hills man was charged with disorderly conduct in neighboring Westmont after he exercised with an ax outside, police said. He was believed to have been trying to intimidate another man.

According to a police report, the suspect told an officer about the other man, "He's not even an American. That's what pisses me off."