Good Samaritan Stabbed To Death In Berwyn After Trying To Stop Angry Store Customer From Attacking Teen And Her Mom
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man who accused a teenage girl of cutting in line at a Berwyn grocery store stabbed another man to death Friday morning after the good Samaritan tried to intervene when the attacker began punching the girl and her mother, police said.
Witnesses told Berwyn police the girl was visiting her mother, a cashier at Valle's Produce, at 6323 W. Cermak Rd., on Friday morning, when she asked her mother the price of a bottle of water, according to Berwyn Police Chief Michael Cimaglia.
That's when a customer accused the girl of cutting in line and began swearing at her. Police said he then punched the girl several times in the face, and when her mother came out from behind the checkout counter to protect her, the man punched the mother as well.
Another customer, Humberto Guzman, tried to intervene and protect the mother and daughter. Police said that's when the attacker began walking towards the exit before suddenly stopping, pulling out a knife, and attacking the good Samaritan, stabbing him several times in the chest and torso.
The attacker then fled the store through the main entrance and ran east on Cermak Road. The cashier and several other people chased him into an alley to Cuyler Avenue where a second good Samaritan tried to stop him, and the man with the knife stabbed him in the torso.
Police said the attacker kept running south on Cuyler Avenue where officers saw him jump over a fence into a yard on the 2300 block of Cuyler Avenue. Police were able to arrest him without further incident.
Paramedics took Guzman, 32, to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The second man who was stabbed suffered minor injuries and was expected to be released from the hospital later on Friday.
"This is a tragic incident in which a Good Samaritan, a True Hero, placed himself into danger in an effort to protect a teenage child and her mother," Cimaglia wrote in a press release.
"It really hit home just the fact that he would put his life on the line to do the right thing," said Kyle Rafferty, who works nearby. "He's selfless. He's brave. I'm sorry to his family, but he was a hero."
Guzman's family has asked for privacy during this time.
Police asked anyone with information on the incident to call the Berwyn PD criminal investigations unit at 708-795-2160.