Trial underway for Woodstock man charged in June 2020 attempted murder

A trial by judge is underway for a 38-year-old Woodstock man accused of “ambushing” another man, beating him with a baseball bat and stabbing him twice in the arm.

Ricardo Carreno Jr. is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and violating an order of protection in connection with a June 14 altercation at the Shell gas station located at 315 N. Madison St., Woodstock.

“This was an ambush like something out of Vietnam guerrilla warfare,” McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Brodersen said in court Tuesday.

Officers responded to the gas station about midnight June 14, where they found the alleged victim on top of Carreno Jr., police testified. The man had never seen Carreno Jr. before the attack, he said.

The alleged victim was taken to the Northwestern Medicine emergency room in Woodstock and later flown to a trauma center in Libertyville as a result of the altercation.

At the time, Carreno Jr. was the subject of an active order of protection, which protected an adult woman, who also was at the scene, along with three children whom Carreno Jr. shared from a previous relationship.

None of the children were physically harmed.

Prosecutors allege that the execution of Correno Jr.’s ambush began hours before the actual attack. From about 8 p.m. until midnight, the alleged victim had been at a friend’s house for a game night with his girlfriend, Carreno Jr.’s ex-wife, and the woman’s three children. At some point during their visit, the man’s tires were slashed, prompting him to pull into the Shell gas station on the way home, the man testified in court Tuesday.

“I realized there was air coming out of the tire and when I looked at the rear, it was the same,” the man said.

That’s when he noticed a masked person running toward him with a baseball bat “ready to swing,” he said.

The man chose to charge toward the armed person, thinking it would minimize any injury, he said.

“I felt a very, very, hard sharp pain to my head,” the man said.

As he attempted to hold down Carreno Jr., the man felt two sharp pains in his right shoulder and realized he had been stabbed, he said.

The woman, who up until that point had been in the car with her 9-, 12-, and 6-year-old children, exited the vehicle and found both men “wrestling” on the ground, she said. She then approached the men and pulled a pocket knife out of Carreno Jr.’s hand, suffering a cut to the hand in the process.

When police arrived, they found Carreno Jr.’s vehicle nearby with the keys in the ignition and the radio still playing. Officers also found a photo of the alleged victim’s license plate on Carreno Jr.’s cellphone, which was inside the car, police said.

Surveillance footage successfully captured audio from the attack, which mostly happened off-camera. A person could be seen, however, running out from behind a tree and out of frame before the bat clinked against the ground and unidentifiable screaming began.

“I could feel the metal on my head,” the man said. “That’s how hard it was.”

The alleged victim proceeded to punch Carreno Jr. and bang his head on the concrete after the initial attack, the man said.

Carreno Jr. could be heard on camera yelling, “I can’t breathe,” and calling the woman derogatory names.

During her testimony Tuesday, the woman denied seeing her boyfriend hit Carreno Jr., but said she was more “worried about the knife he had in his hand.”

Carreno Jr. has been in custody at the McHenry County Jail since June 14 on a $1 million bond.

According to Woodstock police dashboard camera footage, Carreno Jr. laughed in the squad car and told one of the arresting officers, “You guys can’t hold me forever.”

Because Carreno Jr. suffered numerous injuries to his head from the physical altercation with the 32-year-old male victim, he also was taken to the Woodstock emergency room by the Woodstock Fire/Rescue while still in Woodstock police custody, authorities said at the time. At the emergency room, Carreno Jr. tried to escape police custody by fleeing on foot. He was quickly subdued and apprehended by Woodstock officers and received an evaluation and treatment by emergency room staff.

The trial will continue Wednesday afternoon, when Carreno Jr.’s attorneys may begin presenting their case.