At 4 a.m. on Saturday, a Wicker Park man was sleeping in his apartment. His roommate was playing Xbox.
Seconds later the two men were fighting off an attacker who reeked of booze, broke into their apartment in search of a beer and attacked them with a corkscrew, according to the two men and police.
Prosecutors charged Timothy Snyder, 36, with two counts of home invasion and two counts of aggravated battery in connection with the incident, which took place in the 1300 block of North Dean Street.
The man who was sleeping, Tony, asked that his last name not be used and his roommate asked to remain anonymous.
Snyder allegedly banged on the apartment door three times before busting it open and making a bee line for the fridge, the roommate said.
"It was three bangs within two or three seconds and by the time I stood up the door was open," he said.
Snyder was confronted by the roommates once he was inside. The roommate said Snyder smelled of alcohol and he told the intruder to leave. The two began fighting after Snyder threw a punch and made contact on his chin, the roommate said.
Tony said he was sleeping when he was awakened by a loud noise in an apartment upstairs. Police said Snyder had forced his way into that upstairs apartment in search of beer, before heading down to Tony's place.
Tony went back to sleep but said he rushed into the living room when he heard his roommate struggling and put Snyder in a choke hold.
The two subdued Snyder and called 911 during a brief lull in the fighting, after they had subdued Snyder and told him to "chill."
But Tony said Snyder got up and the two struggled again.
"Then he gets back up and starts going at it. I grabbed his neck and pinned him to the wall and at that point he grabs my back and I feel like I got scratched by keys," Tony said.
Tony said he kicked Snyder in his groin and Snyder stopped moving.
After police arrived, Tony's roommate pointed out his wound.
The damage: 28 staples and 25 dissolving deep-tissue stitches. The wound stretched from Tony's upper back down his right side to above the waist.
The judge set Snyder's bond at $250,000 on Sunday morning.
Copyright 2011 - Chicago Tribune
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
