Illinois State Rep.'s Daughter Charged with Assaulting Mother's Opponent

Nick Kangadis | March 18, 2016
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(Chicago Police Department)

An Illinois State Representative’s daughter and a fellow volunteer have been charged with assaulting the opponent of her mother’s successful campaign.

Jessica Soto and Bradley Fichter, both 26, were arrested and charged on Wednesday with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm  and aggravated battery in a public place.

Incumbent Illinois House Rep. Cynthia Soto, Jessica’s mother, successfully defeated Robert Zwolinski in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the 4th district seat of the Illinois House.

According to Chicago's ABC 7, Zwolinski reportedly saw Jessica and Fichter putting signs up for Cynthia in front of his office. When he confronted the two, both of them allegedly struck Zwolinski in the head with a bottle and used a staple gun on his forehead.

Zwolinski told ABC 7, “She really just started going after me on my back right shoulder, aggressively. That turned him immediately into just punching, punching, punching, punching, punching.”

Zwolinski had a large gash on his forehead and the staple could be seen right about at his hairline.

(Robert Zwolinski)

Fichter was also charged with a false report of the altercation after filing his own report with the police.

The attorney for both Soto and Fichter claims that Zwolinski initiated the scrap and that his clients are innocent.

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