The Associated Press
JOLIET, Ill. — An Illinois man allegedly gouged out his uncle’s eyes then pushed him down the stairs in a fight over a remote control, authorities said.
The 62-year-old victim managed to call 911, and a sheriff’s deputy found him at the bottom of the basement stairs with his hands stretched in front of him and blood streaming from his face, saying ‘“Please help. I cannot see,” according to a Will County Sheriff’s Department report.
The report said the man’s eyeballs were swollen and protruding a quarter-inch from his sockets.
The victim told police that his nephew, Exulam Holman, 32, broke the remote and pushed him to the kitchen floor before straddling him and then, “inserted his thumbs into his eyes ... and attempted to pry the eyeballs out of the sockets,” before pushing him down the stairs. The report noted that Holman weighs 280 pounds, about 140 pounds more than his uncle, and is 5 inches taller.
A deputy found Homan in a locked bedroom and arrested him on a charge of aggravated domestic battery. A judge ordered him held Tuesday on $1 million bond.
Authorities did not identify the victim, who was taken to the University of Illinois Medical Center. A hospital spokesman could not immediately confirm his condition on Wednesday.
The story was first reported by The Joliet Herald-News, which said Holman has an extensive arrest record for aggravated assault, battery, violating orders of protection and resisting arrest, including striking a police officer with a car while being arrested for driving under the influence.
Holman and his uncle live outside Joliet, which is about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. In 1999, Holman allegedly was beaten by a Joliet police officer who was breaking up a dice game, the newspaper reported. He eventually received a $100,000 settlement from the city, and the officer was fired.