An Oakwood Hills man stabbed his mother, a local restaurant owner, to death early Wednesday and attacked her male companion in a house the three shared, police said.
Investigators say Charles E. Platcher then drove into Crystal Lake where he rammed his truck into two other vehicles, stabbed himself and tried to flee before he was arrested.
Platcher was in police custody Wednesday night in Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry, where he was listed in fair condition with knife wounds.
He was arrested two miles from his upscale home on Fawn Ridge Drive.
In a bedroom, police found the body of Patricia Platcher, 55, who owned Muncione’s, a restaurant on Illinois Highway 176 known for pizza, ribs and Friday fish fries. James Maze, 55, her boyfriend and business associate, was found bleeding in the garage, McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren said.
Police believe Maze, who had been stabbed several times, made the 911 call at 4:48 a.m. Maze was in critical condition at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge Wednesday evening.
Platcher will be charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and armed violence when his condition improves, Nygren said.
“We don’t know why this occurred,” Nygren said, adding that there are no other suspects.
Platcher was arrested shortly after 5 a.m. when police arrived at a head-on collision at the intersection of Illinois 176 and Walkup Road just north of downtown Crystal Lake.
Nygren called the accident intentional and said Platcher apparently wanted to hurt himself.
“He was at a complete stop,” Nygren said. “Then he drove straight across into the other cars.”
The drivers of the two vehicles Platcher struck with his pickup were treated for minor injuries and released.
Witnesses told police that after the collision, Platcher got out of his truck and ran into Veterans Acres Park just east of Walkup, but returned to the truck a few minutes later. He pulled out a knife and stabbed himself several times in the body and wrists, Nygren said.
Nygren would not say what type of knife police recovered or whether it appeared to be the one used in the slaying.
When police arrived, they spotted Platcher behind the Northside Center shopping mall. He ran, but officers caught him and subdued him after a struggle along Illinois 176, Crystal Lake Police Chief Ron Sheley said.
Platcher has been arrested several times since 1999 for traffic infractions in Crystal Lake, Oakwood Hills and McHenry County, such as driving without a license and driving with a suspended license. He also was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident near his mother’s home.
On Monday, he was scheduled to be in court to face a charge of battery.
He is accused of slapping a Crystal Lake convenience store employee as she stood behind the counter Sept. 23. The hearing was rescheduled to Feb. 26 at Platcher’s request.
Jennifer A. Freeman, the employee, said she had just asked the man if she could help him when he punched her.
“I had no clue who he was,” Freeman said Wednesday. “I had never seen him before in my life.”
The attack was recorded by a surveillance camera, and police arrested Platcher.
According to court records, his mother posted the $100 to get him out of jail.
More Top Picks Early Signs Of Dyslexia In Preschoolers Parents Miss
Patricia Platcher was often helping her son out of tough spots, said Cynthia Briscoe, an attorney who handled the mother’s purchase of Island Lake real estate and rented a building from her for about eight years.
Charles Platcher failed at running a carpet cleaning business several years ago in another building his mother owned behind her restaurant.
Platcher built her business from a small hot dog stand, Briscoe said.
“We’d kibitz back and forth about owning our own businesses and business in general,” Briscoe said. “She was a very driven woman from a business standpoint.”
Over those years, Maze became increasingly involved in her restaurant, Briscoe said.
The couple were also very involved in civic affairs.
“They have been longtime members of the chamber and have been real generous with their support,” said Joe Pesz, owner of Pesz Landscaping and the president of the local Chamber of Commerce.
In recent years, Platcher and Maze hired Pesz to landscape their home.
Gardening “was a pastime of theirs,” Pesz said. “And they were a match. Friendly but quiet.”
On Wednesday, yellow police tape ran beyond the landscaping to woods behind their home on a small hill.
Nygren said investigators hope to interview Charles Platcher and Maze when their conditions improve, although he said that may take several days in Maze’s case.