HO_011620

6 | January 16, 2020 | the homer horizon news
homerhorizondaily.com
Homer woman charged with hate crime for attack, screaming racial slurs
Benain, 25,
said by police to
have repeatedly
punched woman
Thomas Czaja, Editor
A 25-year-old woman
was charged with a hate
crime and more after she
reportedly attacked and
shouted racial slurs at a
woman the evening of Jan.
4 outside a banquet hall in
Homer Glen, according to
Will County Sheriff’s Office
spokeswoman Kathy
Hoffmeyer.
Sarah Benain, 25, of
the 13200 block of W.
Oakwood Drive in Homer
Glen, allegedly attacked a
black woman unprovoked
around 11 p.m. at Di-
From Jan. 8
Nolfo’s Banquets, which
was hosting two different
weddings simultaneously
that evening, Hoffmeyer
said. In addition to the
hate crime, Benain was
charged with three counts
of aggravated battery to
a police officer, as well
as one count each of obstructing
justice, resisting
a police officer, disorderly
conduct and battery.
Benain’s boyfriend,
Lukasz Harnik, 25, of the
1300 block of Tralee Lane
in Lockport, was charged
with obstructing justice
and resisting a police officer
during the incident.
He reportedly came up behind
deputies while they
were arresting Benain,
calling them racial slurs
and telling them to leave
her alone, not complying
after having been told
multiple times to get away
from the situation.
Benain and Harnik also
were both said to have
smelled like alcohol and
to have been intoxicated,
according to reports from
deputies at the banquet
hall that evening.
An off-duty sheriff’s
deputy reportedly called
for backup when he went
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Harnik
Police reports
outside and initially saw
Benain and Harnik by a
black man and black woman.
Harnik reportedly was
screaming racial slurs at
the black woman, had her
legs wrapped around the
woman and was punching
her. Guests had been
leaving the weddings, and
the black woman reportedly
told police she had no
idea why Benain attacked
her while she and her boyfriend
were exiting the
venue.
Benain screamed the
“n-word” at her repeatedly
and began beating her
up, Hoffmeyer said. The
woman had visible minor
injuries and told responders
her head hurt.
The woman was said by
authorities to have been
taken to Silver Cross Hospital
as a precaution. Police
added she had told a
deputy before she left for
the hospital that she wanted
to press charges against
Benain. The attacked
woman’s boyfriend had
left DiNolfo’s, and deputies
did not speak to him.
After the woman was
taken to the hospital, Benain
was still irate and
shouting racial slurs while
deputies tried to calm her
down, according to Hoffmeyer.
At that time, it was reported
the owner of Di-
Nolfo’s came outside and
told Benain she needed to
leave the premises, noting
she also had been causing
problems inside prior to
the outdoor incident. Benain
attempted to strike
the owner, but a deputy got
between them and grabbed
her wrist before making
contact.
She then allegedly attempted
to run into the Di-
Nolofo’s parking lot. One
of the deputies saw a number
of vehicles and traffic
in the parking lot and tried
to stop her from running,
and she punched him in
the chin. Several more
deputies tried to restrain
her, and she at one point
kicked another deputy in
9
the thigh while continuing
to shout racial slurs at
them.
Hoffmeyer said Benain
was tased and became
compliant so police could
restrain and put handcuffs
on her, getting her safely in
the back of a squad car.
It was at that point
Harnik reportedly went
behind the deputies and
shouted racial slurs at
them, telling them to leave
her alone. After reportedly
being noncompliant with
multiple requests from police
to stand down, Harnik
eventually had to be taken
to the ground and have
handcuffs put on him to be
restrained.
Both Benain and Harnik
were taken to the Will
County Adult Detention
Facility, per Hoffmeyer.
Benain had her bond
set at $15,000 on Jan. 6,
posted the required 10 percent
that evening and was
released. Harnik was released
in the early morning
hours of Jan. 5, not long
after the reported incident,
on a personal recognizance
bond.
For more on this and other
Breaking News, visit Homer
HorizonDaily.com.
Jewelry, wallet among items reported
stolen from unlocked vehicle in Homer
Someone entered an
unlocked vehicle Dec.
24 and reportedly stole
four sterling silver pieces
of jewelry, miscellaneous
clothing, candles
and a wallet with credit
cards and a driver’s license
inside on the 12000
block of W. Lake View
Drive.
Editor’s note: The Homer
Horizon’s police reports
7
come from the Will County
Sheriff’s Department’s online
news bulletin service. Anyone
listed in these reports is considered
to be innocent of all
charges until proven guilty in
a court of law.