Hate crime charges filed against man who yelled N-word before stabbing Black man outside Elgin bar

ByJohn Garcia and ABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Man who said N-word, stabbed man in Elgin charged with hate crime
Bartlett's Jason Ostrego, who allegedly yelled the N-word at Anton Patterson before stabbing him in Elgin, IL, has been charged with a hate crime.

ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) -- Hate crime charges have been filed against a Jason Ostrego, who allegedly yelled racial slurs at a Black man before stabbing him outside an Elgin bar.

A Kane County grand jury indicted 28-year-old Ostrego on attempted first-degree murder and hate crime charges Tuesday, the Kane County State's Attorney's Office said. Ostrego was originally charged with armed violence and aggravated battery.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

The incident was captured on cell phone video.

A customer captured video as the suspect yelled racial slurs at 40-year-old Anton Patterson, who is Black, outside an Elgin bar Sunday night.

After being asked to leave the bar, prosecutors said Ostrego continued to make racist remarks and used the N-word in the parking lot.

ABC7 has blurred the face of the person seen in the video with Ostrego because they are not charged with a crime.

As Ostrego went back into a car, prosecutors said he grabbed a knife and stabbed Patterson.

"He walks right up to Anton. Anton didn't even do anything. Walks right up to Anton and stabs him," said a man who witnessed the stabbing and did not want to be identified.

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Prosecutors said Ostrego stabbed Patterson in the chest, nearly killing him. Ostrego also allegedly cut another man in the face when he tried to stop the fight.

The victim's family said original charges filed in the case did not go far enough, saying the incident should be considered a hate crime.

"It should be a hate crime because that guy was in the bar making racial remarks before my brother came," said the victim's brother, Jarvis Patterson.

When ABC7 asked the witness if he thought it was a hate crime, he said: "I do, because of the way he was talking before it."

The Kane County State's attorney said the case is still under investigation.

"It's considered for possibly a charge of hate crime. It's also at sentencing should he be found guilty," Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser said at the time.

His family said Anton Patterson's heart stopped at one point, but doctors revived him. He remains hospitalized at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin.