St. John man, 21, charged in battery

Son accused of beating mother’s boyfriend as part of retaliation

Authorities said a St. John man took his younger brother to beat their mother’s boyfriend in retaliation after the man allegedly choked her, according to a criminal affidavit.

Zac Casalin, 21, was charged Nov. 8 with battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony. The man suffered a broken vertebrate, charges allege.

If convicted, it carries a potential one- to six-year prison sentence. Police arrested Casalin on Nov. 8 and he spent about a week in jail until his $2,000 bail was posted Monday.

His next court hearing is Jan. 4 before Lake Superior Judge Natalie Bokota.

The boyfriend told police he was on W. 93rd Avenue near Kardel Drive in St. John, when he spotted Casalin and his brother, who threatened him. After the man said not to mess with him, the brothers got out of their cars and knocked him to the ground, records state.

The man curled in a ball as the pair continued to kick him, documents state. The pair took his wallet and cellphone. The boyfriend was later taken to the hospital with a broken vertebrate.

Since the brother is a juvenile, it is unclear if he is also facing charges.

Their mother told police she had been dating the “angry” man for about a year.

Shortly before her sons confronted him, she was driving when the boyfriend pulled her hair, forcing her to swerve on the road, according to documents.

When they got back to her house, he started slamming doors, then went to her basement and started breaking things, she said in documents. After she told him to get out, he went outside and

started dumping things from her vehicle on the driveway, the affidavit states.

After she went outside, he chased her around the vehicle, beat her on both sides of the head and choked her, lifting her up from the ground until she saw “darkness,” she said. The man then took $200 out of her purse inside the car, court records state.

Her son, Casalin, was upstairs and came outside and chased the boyfriend off, she said.

Court records show a man with the boyfriend’s name is facing level 6 felony strangulation and misdemeanor criminal mischief charges in Lake County against a woman with the same name.

In that incident, the woman reported the man, her boyfriend, 22, briefly choked her on June 7 after an argument outside a Whiting bar. A police officer “separated” them, with the man leaving and the woman going back to the bar.

An hour later, the woman said the man came back, took a bar stool and started breaking out her car windows, the affidavit alleges.