May 23--A 35-year-old man pretended to be a social service worker before following a Rogers Park man into his apartment and stabbing him after stealing his wallet, prosecutors said Sunday.
Zsolt J. Ksleri is charged with aggravated battery with use of a deadly weapon, home invasion and armed robbery in the Friday attack. He was arrested about 12:40 p.m. in the same block where the attack took place, soon after the incident, according to police and police records.
The victim was returning to his building in the 6700 block of North Ashland Avenue after grocery shopping and was taking the elevator to his apartment, when Ksleri also got on the elevator, prosecutors said in court Sunday. Ksleri told the victim that he worked with a social services agency and was checking to see if the people in the building were being treated properly, prosecutors said.
Ksleri then followed the victim off the elevator and into his apartment. Prosecutors said the victim told Ksleri to leave, then realized that Ksleri had stolen his wallet.
The two struggled and Ksleri went to the kitchen, got two knives and stabbed the man several times, prosecutors said. The victim managed to break free and called police while Ksleri was still inside, prosecutors said. Responding officers found the victim with stab wounds to his eye and forehead, and he was taken to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston.
Police records show Ksleri also was taken to St. Francis, though it was unclear why.
Ksleri, whose name also has been spelled "Keszleri," has 11 prior felonies on his record, including a 2011 conviction for forgery, prosecutors said. His court-appointed lawyer asked for Ksleri to be transferred to Cermak Hospital at Cook County Jail, saying that he suffers from a heart condition requiring medication and has epileptic seizures.
Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Ksleri held on $750,000 bail. Ksleri, of the 7300 block of North Damen Avenue, is due in court next on Friday.
