Crime & Safety
Plainfield Man Claims He Was Ambushed & Beaten on Video, Then Left to Freeze to Outside Joliet Bar
A Plainfield man is suing both a man he claims beat him and the bar he had visited before the alleged attack.
A Plainfield man claims he was ambushed, beaten unconscious and left to freeze outside a Joliet bar, according to a lawsuit filed in Will County court.
Derick Kalec, 24, named his alleged assailant, 31-year-old Aaron Pemble, and the Joliet bar Larsen's Corner as defendants in his lawsuit.
Kalec said he showed up at Larsen's with some friends about 9:30 p.m. Jan. 6. Pemble was already there when he arrived, according to the lawsuit.
About three hours later, bar manager Sean Lindmark ordered "Pemble to leave the premises and not return," the suit said, but Pemble came back in the company of someone named "Josh Stroth" and "demanded that Sean come outside and fight him."
"Sean refused and in an attempt to provoke Sean, Aaron struck him in the face with his fist," the lawsuit said. "Again, Aaron was made to leave the bar."
Kalec decided to depart Larsen's about 2 a.m., the lawsuit said, but had no idea when he walked out that Pemble and Stroth were "lying in wait in the parking lot."
As Kalec headed to his car, Pemble walked up to him and said " F--k you, you piece of s--t," according to the lawsuit, "then shoved (Kalec), tackled him to the ground and started beating his face while Josh Stroth made a video recording of the attack," the lawsuit said.
Kalec was knocked out by the blows and Pemble "left him unconscious to die in the parking lot," the lawsuit said.
The low temperature on Jan. 6 and 7 was 16 degrees below zero.
The lawsuit does not say how long Kalec was supposedly left unconscious in the bar parking lot "to die from exposure."
There is no record of a criminal case on file against Pemble for allegedly attacking Kalec but Pemble was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly attacking Lindmark. Pemble's trial is scheduled to start Friday.
A receptionist at the law firm representing Kalec said attorney David Hurst was handling the case. Hurst failed to return a call for comment.
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