A 67-year-old woman charged with a hate crime in 2020 for striking a Black man in Winnetka after telling him “you need to go back where you’re from” pleaded guilty to a lesser charge this week and was sentenced to probation and ordered to completed an anti-racism course, officials said Thursday.
Irene Donoshaytis, 67, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor battery at the Skokie courthouse on Oct. 19, and was sentenced to one year of probation, $519 in court costs and was ordered to completed an anti-racism course, prosecutors said. In exchange for Donoshaytis’ guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the more serious hate crime change.
The plea deal comes a little more than two years after Donoshaytis confronted a Black cyclist attempting to use a public Winnetka pier in August 2020 and told him he did not belong there, then hit him twice on the arm, prosecutors said.
They said Donoshaytis confronted the Skokie resident, his friend and his cousin, stating that they were not allowed to be near the Winnetka pier at 720 Tower Road. All three members of the group are Black, prosecutors said. They said white cyclists who were in the area were not confronted.
The group was relaxing at the pier after a 15-mile bicycle ride when they were approached by Donoshaytis who said, “This is America. This is America, you can’t do this. I’m from Winnetka. You need to go back where you’re from,” said prosecutors.
Donoshaytis then approached a Winnetka Park District employee to complain about the group’s presence, and the Skokie man began recording her with his phone, said prosecutors.
They said the employee told Donoshaytis that the cyclists were sitting on public property and that a beach pass was not required. Donoshaytis disagreed, then turned to the cyclist and asked, “Are you crazy? What, you want to kill me? No? It feels like it,” she’s recorded as saying.
“Why would I want to kill you? Is it because I’m Black?” the man replied.
More Top Picks Best King Size Weighted Blankets For Couples
“Yes,” Donoshaytis said.
At that point, the employee offered to get a supervisor and Donoshaytis is seen moving quickly toward the man’s phone, and the video shakes and cuts off, prosecutors said. They said the man said Donoshaytis hit his arm twice, leaving a bruise. Winnetka police responded and Donoshaytis was later arrested.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.