Homewood Restaurateur, Former Trustee Charged with Domestic Battery

Former Homewood trustee and local restaurateur James Garofalo was charged with domestic battery on June 10.

Police say Garofalo got into an argument with a woman after he showed up unannounced in the backyard of a Homewood Pine Road home, reports say. The woman's hand was cut on a barbecue grill during the confrontation.

This is not Garofalo's first serious confrontation with the law. In June of 2010, he was sentenced to six months in prison for mortgage fraud.

In a Sun-Times Media article, Garofalo—who runs The Egg & I restaurants in Chicago Heights and Tinley Park—criticized the media for its particular interest in his recent legal woes.

“Do you call everybody this happens to?” Garofalo told the Sun-Times Media. “No. I know what the answer is. If you want to make news about me because I’m a local business owner, that’s ridiculous.”

According to police, Garofalo had not been living at the home for a year. He and the woman were discussing a divorce agreement ahead of an upcoming court appearance when he started yelling over the terms. The alleged victim told police he pushed a grill that was on the backyard deck into her and, when she pushed back, it fell down the stairs. She injured her hand when she tried holding onto the grill.

Garofalo said they both were pulling on the grill and, in doing so, the woman must have injured her hand, the police report states.

Bail for Garofalo was set at $5,000, according to the Sun-Times Media report. He is due in court July 2 at Markham courthouse.