Union Grove

Mealtime dispute leads to stitches, criminal charges

A family dispute that led to violence at a Town of Yorkville home last October has resulted in a felony battery charge against a Burlington man.

Jason Michael Schwartz, 29, was charged recently in Racine County Circuit Court with substantial battery, a Class I felony, and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, for allegedly smashing a dinner plate in his brother’s face.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Steven J. Simonsen was treated with five stitches in his forehead and eyebrow at a Racine hospital following the incident, which occurred at the home of the mother of both men.

The complaint alleges that Schwartz was arguing with his sister and brother-in-law, Patricia and Noah Huck, over how the two are raising their children when he spun around and smashed a dinner plate in Simonsen’s face.

Simonsen told a sheriff’s deputy investigating the incident that he believed Schwartz had intended to strike his brother-in-law, Noah Huck, instead.

In a separate interview, the Hucks told a deputy they had left the home and did not witness the alleged assault.

According to the complaint, Simonsen told a deputy that Schwartz called him while he was at the hospital and told him “he deserved it,” referring to the assault. Simonsen also told the deputy he wanted to pursue charges against his brother, but he did not want him to go to jail.

The assault was initially reported to authorities by staff at Wheaton Franciscan Hospital, where a neighbor of his mother took Simonsen’s following the incident.

Schwartz was scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on Feb. 16.

The complaint against him notes that he has previously been convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession and drunken driving.

Schwartz is presumed innocent of the latest charges unless convicted.

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