An Aurora man was charged with stabbing another man in a quarrel that erupted at a traffic light in Downers Grove over the weekend after one man spit at another, police said.
Robert W. Kaufmann, 25, of the 3100 block of Bloomfield Court was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he stabbed a 21-year-old Downers Grove man while both men were waiting for a left-turn signal at Butterfield Road and Downers Drive on Sunday evening, Sgt. Kurt Bluder said.
The victim was treated for minor injuries and released Sunday from Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, police said.
Kaufmann, his brother Jeffrey Kaufmann, and another passenger were riding in a van. When they stopped in the westbound turn lane at Butterfield Road and Downers Drive, Robert Kaufmann spit out his passenger-side window, Bluder said.
The driver of the car sitting next to them, also in a left turn lane, apparently thought Kaufmann was spitting at his car. The driver got out of his Pontiac Bonneville and slapped the rear window of the van, police said.
Kaufmann then jumped out of the van, brandished a black folding knife and slashed at the Bonneville driver through the open car window, cutting the man’s arm and wrist and puncturing his back, police said.
Jeffrey Kauffman, who was driving the van, got out and tried to restrain his brother, police said. The victim quickly pulled onto Interstate Highway 88 and found an Illinois State Police trooper.
Downers Grove police found the Kaufmanns fighting outside Hooters on Butterfield Road moments after the stabbing. The brothers were apparently fighting over the incident, Bluder said.
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A DuPage County judge set Kaufmann’s bond at $200,000 on Monday.
Police said the spitting incident that sparked the attack appeared not to be directed at the car.
“Apparently, he just had to spit,” Bluder said.