The Naperville nightclub squabble that ended with the fatal stabbing of a young teacher allegedly began when a well-regarded airport manager was ribbed for drinking his beer from a wineglass, authorities said.
“I’ve had a lengthy police career, and I’ve never seen anything that made less sense,” police Chief David Dial said after a bond hearing Sunday for Daniel Olaska, 27, the Naperville man charged in the weekend slaying of Shaun Wild.
“This is an utterly senseless act of violence,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.
Wild, 24, a first-year teacher at Naperville’s Spring Brook Elementary School and Milwaukee-area native, was killed by a stab wound to the chest after he interceded in a squabble between his friend William Hayes and Olaska, a manager at the Schaumburg Regional Airport, prosecutors said.
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Although Hayes and Olaska did not know each other, they ended up sitting at the same table at Frankie’s Blue Room, a downtown Naperville nightclub filled with about 100 patrons shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, when the attack happened. Hayes, a senior at North Central College and a member of the football team, was there with friends, including Wild, a kicker and punter who was a 2010 graduate of the school.
Olaska, 27, was alone after a friend had left, authorities said.
Olaska was drinking beer from a wineglass, and Hayes poked fun at him, Assistant State’s Attorney Tim Diamond said in bond court.
The incident escalated, Diamond said, and both men stood up. Wild, who was nearby, attempted to intervene, authorities said.
Then Olaska allegedly pulled out his 5-inch-long folding knife and lunged at Hayes and Wild. The blade hit Hayes in the chest and sliced Wild on the arm.
As Olaska turned to leave, Wild attempted to stop him, and Olaska fatally stabbed him in the heart, authorities said.
Rafael Castenada, a bar employee who tried to step in, was stabbed in the arm, a wound that required many stitches to close, Diamond said.
Hayes was taken to Edward Hospital, Diamond said, where he was in the intensive care unit Sunday after surgery.
“Willie’s prognosis remains positive, and we hope to have him home soon,” his parents, Bill and Kim Hayes, said in a statement, which included condolences to the Wild family.
Police said Olaska tried to leave again after stabbing Wild but was detained by Naperville police, who had arrived at the nightspot.
DuPage County Judge Neal Cerne set bond for Olaska at $3 million. He faces 32 to 120 years in prison if found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Berlin said Olaska has given a videotaped confession and conducted a re-enactment for authorities. Authorities have videotape of the incident and have the knife, Berlin said.
Olaska has no prior criminal record, his attorneys said.
“Obviously, this is an incredible aberration in the life of David,” Earl Grinbarg, an attorney representing Olaska, told the judge as Olaska’s parents and members of his church looked on.
Members of Grace Christian Fellowship church in Naperville will try to help raise the $300,000 cash bond, Olaska’s attorney’s said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Olaska home said of her relative: “He is a wonderful young man,” but declined to comment further.
Neighbors said the family hosted Bible studies at their home. One neighbor said Olaska had recently helped him clear snow on his property.
Chiyoko Hashimoto, a friend of Olaska’s from when he attended Illinois State University, said Olaska is easy to get along with and friendly. She said he had been a unicycle rider in the university’s student circus. He was always willing to help out and organized circus events, she said. Later, he moved to Japan to teach English.
The police chief said there is no history of trouble at the bar where the stabbings happened.
“Frankie’s Blue Room is probably one of the more responsible nightclubs in downtown Naperville,” Dial said.
On Sunday, several visitors to the downtown area said that bar, along with others in the lively downtown, is often frequented by students from nearby North Central, including the athletic types who tend to be rowdy when out on the town.
But the people downtown said violence is unusual.
“It was a fluke this happened,” said Amanda Wheeler, 22, a senior at North Central. “It’s not something people expect here.”
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter. Becky Schlikerman
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is a Tribune reporter. Tribune reporter Brian Slodysko contributed.