Off-duty Chicago police officer stabbed in North Side altercation
CHICAGO (CBS) – An off-duty Chicago police officer was stabbed several times on the city's far North Side early Friday morning.
The off-duty officer, 36, was outside in the 2400 block of West Fargo Avenue around 4:20 a.m. with multiple individuals when an altercation ensued. An unknown suspect stabbed him with a knife according to Chicago police.
Cell phone video obtained exclusively by CBS 2 showed the brutal attack on at least two people. The victims were repeatedly punched while they were on the ground. The officer was stabbed in the melee. Neighbors said the officer was found slumped over a parked car.
"There was somebody laying on the ground in a beige-colored outfit and there was somebody else punching the hell out of her or him and somebody else came out and started stomping on the body," said Ned Targos who lives near where the altercation took place.
Targos said he "just saw the arm go up and down, up and down."
It is unclear what led to the altercation, but neighbors said a nuisance bar nearby closes at 4 a.m. and they've had problems in the past as people leave the establishment.
"Wow, cops aren't even safe out here," said Helena Washington Clopton, who lives near where the stabbing happened.
Washington Clopton added that when the crowds leave the bar, "they have no respect for the tenants that live here. We find beer bottles and all that, barf and all that."
Still, she said she hasn't seen anything like this.
The officer was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. No other injuries were reported.
Detectives were speaking to a person of interest, police said, although no arrests have been made.