Son recovering after being shot as intervening food vendor dad was robbed on West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Street vendors are being targeted throughout the city by armed robbers.
As CBS 2's Marybel González reported Monday, the most recent incident happened in the Austin neighborhood on the city's West Side, where a son tried to intervene as his dad was being held at gunpoint. The son ended up getting shot, and is now recovering at Mount Sinai Hospital.
We have been in touch with the son, Alejandro Aparicio Jr., and he is expected to be okay. But on Monday night, his father, Alejandro Aparicio Sr., shared with us the horrifying moments watching his son get shot – with all this happening as the duo was just out trying to sell food to make ends meet.
A witness took video showing Aparicio Jr. lying on the ground after being shot in the leg. The 20-year-old was trying to defend his dad – a street vendor who had just been robbed by two armed men.
Aparicio Sr. teared up as he relived that horrific moment. In Spanish, he told us the robbery happened early Saturday afternoon – as he had been selling fresh fruit and street corn out of his cart near the corner of Laramie Avenue and Division Street. His son had stopped by to drop off lunch.
Shortly afterward, two men got out of a white sport-utility vehicle and pointed a gun to Aparicio Sr.'s chest, demanding money. That was when Aparicio Jr. reached for one of the men, and the other shot him in the leg.
The robbers got away with about $400.
"Not just one – maybe two or three - if you're going to be out there, try and get friends and family to be out there with you so that you're not caught vulnerable. I don't want to see people being vulnerable," said Ald. Emma Mitts (37th). "They have to make a living, but their lives need more safety."
Mitts said Aparicio Sr. is one of the most recent victims of armed robberies happening throughout the city this month so far.
"I'm taking to the commander. There has been something like 38," Mitts said. "It is outrageous."
Even though the robbery and shooting seemed to be an isolated incident in the Austin neighborhood, street vendors are being targeted in areas nearby.
"The wolves are somewhere out there, and they don't care who you run into," Ald. Mitts said.
Just last week, Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd) issued a community alert about a string of robberies happening in Little Village in which the victims were street vendors like Aparicio Sr. – facing dangers while trying to make a living.
This also was not the first time Aparicio Sr. has been robbed. In the 20 years he has worked as a street vendor, he has been robbed six times.
But he says he needs to support his family, so he will continue to go out to sell his food.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Aparicio Jr.'s hospital bills.