May 08--An exchange between rival gang members that started at a McDonald's drive-thru and later turned violent left two young children with cuts all over their faces, prosecutors said at a court hearing Thursday.
Jonathan Gonzalez, 18, and Luis G. Olvera, 20, each were charged with aggravated battery to a child younger than 13, a felony. In addition, Gonzalez was charged with criminal damage to property and Olvera was charged with reckless conduct. A third suspect in the case has not been charged.
A man and a woman were seated in a minivan in a McDonald's drive-thru near the 2600 block of South Kedzie Avenue around noon Monday with their three children, ages 7, 2 and 7 months old, according to prosecutors.
Gonzalez and the unidentified suspect approached the man, who was in the passenger seat, and started throwing Latin Kings gang signs, prosecutors said.
The man, a member of a rival gang, did not respond, and Gonzalez then began to remove caps from a nearby fire hydrant, prosecutors said.
The woman, who was driving, got food from the drive-thru window and drove away. Gonzalez by that time had succeeded in removing the caps from the fire hydrant, which were connected with a chain, prosecutors said. He followed the minivan and yelled obscenities to the woman in the driver's seat, then threw the caps through a back window of the car, breaking the window, prosecutors said.
The 2-year-old, who was in the back seat, began bleeding and screaming, prosecutors said, and Olvera, along with the other attacker began throwing rocks at the car.
The 2-year-old and the 7-month-old both suffered cuts to their faces from the broken glass, and the 2-year-old also suffered a large bruise to his head. The 7-year-old child was in the far back seat, according to prosecutors, and apparently was unharmed. The woman flagged down a passing ambulance, which took the children to a nearby hospital, and the man gave police officers a description of the attackers, prosecutors said.
Police found Gonzalez and Olvera in a nearby gangway, prosecutors said, and the fire hydrant caps were found inside the minivan.
Judge Peggy Chiampas on Thursday denied bail for Gonzalez, of the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue--whose arrest report states he also goes by "Jay Montana"--and ordered Olvera, of the 2400 block of South Troy Street, held in lieu of $500,000 bond.
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