My last news article

After two short years as a newspaper reporter, I've decided to switch careers. I began a job as a copy editor for a group of Chicago trade publications Jan. 9. This story, published Jan, 6., was my last one as a newspaper reporter. Had all my stories been this fun to write, I probably wouldn't have left the field.

Stabbing victim leaps from balcony
By Sarah Stone
Staff writer
Westmont Progress Newspaper

A Waukegan man is recovering from his injuries after he was stabbed several times -- then jumped from a third-floor balcony of a Westmont apartment to escape his attacker -- at about midnight Dec. 30. A 30-year-old Westmont man has been charged in the incident.

William Clinge, 26, was at a residence in The Ponds, an apartment complex on the village's south side. He said he was visiting Neriious Niakviadavitchious, 30, 6724 Tudor Lane, for a couple of hours when the attack took place. The two had been drinking vodka, and finished more than one bottle, Clinge said.

"I was sitting there drinking and all the sudden my brother called on my cell phone and he was talking to Neriious," Clinge said. "That conversation was fine and everything was perfect. Then Neriious got a phone call in Russian, and it wasn't a good phone call. It didn't go so well. He went into the kitchen and grabbed two kitchen knives. Then he walked back over to where I was at. He punched me in the side of my face and threw me to the ground. Then he put the knife to my throat and slit my throat."

Clinge said he doesn't know why he was attacked. He suspects the phone call had something to do with Clinge's business. Clinge declined to say what type of business he's in.

"It has to do with our two different businesses," Clinge said. "Our business ethics weren't the same."

Although Clinge's throat had been slit, he said he didn't lose consciousness. Clinge said Niakviadavitchious told him to take everything out of his pockets, which he did.

"I told him he was making a mistake," Clinge said. "I said, 'If you let me go now I won't tell anybody.' He said, 'No, I'm going to kill you.' I have no idea why he wanted to kill me. I wish he had told me why."

Clinge said Niakviadavitchious kept him in the apartment for about an hour, stabbing him every time he tried to leave. Clinge said due to the loss of blood, he began having chest pains.

At one point, Niakviadavitchious let Clinge use the bathroom, Clinge said.

"I started looking around for a window," he said. "He saw me looking around for a window and stabbed me again."

Clinge said he also tried to call 911 from his cell phone but Niakviadavitchious saw this and took the phone away.

"He took my cell phone and smashed it on the ground and broke it into pieces," Clinge said. "He had me take phone numbers out of my pocket and told me to sit by a chair. Then he stabbed me again in the hand. This went on for an hour. Every time he'd stab me, he'd give me a shot of vodka. He'd say, 'Drink or I'll stab you again.'"

Clinge said someone called the apartment and spoke with Niakviadavitchious, who spoke in Russian.

According to Westmont police Lt. Richard Sandford, Niakviadavitchious is a native of Lithuania. Clinge is not Lithuanian, but he has many Lithuanian friends and speaks the language, Clinge said. He also knows a little Russian, he said.

Clinge said he believes he heard Niakviadavitchious say on the phone, "We can all take care of him."

A little later, some people came to the apartment, and Niakviadavitchious left the room to let them in.

"He looked out the door to see if his friends were there," Clinge said. "When he went to (the) main apartment door, I could hear the people walking up the stairs. I ran across the apartment to the balcony and jumped off the third-story balcony."

According to Sandford, this was the only way for Clinge to escape.

"He didn't feel like there was any safe way to get out," Sandford said. "He was restrained in the apartment against his will. He ran out to the balcony to jump off for fear of his life."

Clinge said he landed on a grassy area next to the apartment complex. On his way down, he said he hit the second-story balcony with his hands and part of his back. He landed on the grass on his back, he said.

"After I jumped down and I landed on my back, the wind was knocked out of me," Clinge said. "But I got up with an adrenaline rush. I hobbled and ran a block away."

Clinge said he saw a girl walking her dog. He asked her to please call 911. At first she said no and told him to get away from her, Clinge said. He said he yelled at her and asked her to "please save my life."

"I laid on the ground. I couldn't really stand up," Clinge said. "I've had a heart attack before, so I knew what it was."

Clinge said the police responded quickly, and the ambulances arrived afterward. He was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was still hospitalized as of Jan. 5. Clinge said he's being treated for stab wounds and a heart attack. Despite his three-story jump, he did not suffer any broken bones, he said.

According to Sandford, officers who went to Niakviadavitchious' apartment found it empty, but later obtained warrants against him for aggravated battery and unlawful restraint. Niakviadavitchious turned himself in Jan. 3 and was taken to DuPage County Jail, Sandford said. His bond has been set at $5 million.

Sandford said a woman who lives at the apartment was present during the altercation. However, she was in another room during most of the evening, Sandford said.

"The stabbing had nothing to do with her that we know of," Sandford said.

Clinge said he had known Niakviadavitchious for more than a year before the incident and that they were friends. They met through mutual friends.

Clinge said he went over the Niakviadavitchious' apartment Dec. 30 because he was in the area.

"I called and said, 'Hey, I'm in the area,'" Clinge said. "He (Niakviadavitchious) drove to the liquor store to pick up some vodka, and we started drinking."

This is the second stabbing involving a Lithuanian at The Ponds in less than four months. Paulius Liandsbergas, 22, 6705 Vail Drive, died Sept. 13 at Good Samaritan. According to Westmont police, Liandsbergas was hosting a party at his Vail Drive apartment when a neighbor -- Lewis J. Watson, 32, 6706 Vail Drive -- allegedly attacked him with a knife in the parking lot outside their units.

Watson and Liandsbergas argued in the parking lot before Liandsbergas was stabbed in the chest, Sandford said. The blade penetrated his heart, he said.

Liandsbergas lived in his Vail Drive apartment with his mother. He is a native of Lithuania who had been in the United States for four years, Sandford said. Sandford said police do not believe there is a connection between the Dec. 30 stabbing and the Liandsbergas murder.

Watson, who was charged with first-degree murder, remains in DuPage County Jail on $2 million bond. His next court date is Friday, Jan. 20.