Actor Found Seriously Injured In River North
UPDATED 12/2/10 - 2:28 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) - A north suburban actor and stunt man was in the hospital with severe head injuries on Thursday after he was found on a River North sidewalk over the weekend.
David Bertucci, who appeared in an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1993 and performed stunts in "Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love," was found lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious near the intersection of Erie and Wells early Sunday morning.
A relative said the 41-year-old Highland Park man was mugged at a local bar.
Bertucci suffered bleeding on the brain, cuts and bruises to the face, and possible facial fractures, police said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a doctor notified police.
As of early Thursday, police were still not able to talk to the victim to find out what happened. A preliminary report listed the incident as a non-criminal injury on the public way, according to Near North District police Capt. Jerome Fluder.
Fluder said it did not appear the man was robbed because Bertucci wearing a Rolex watch and still had his wallet and credit cards when he was found.
The victim's cousin, Jon Volpendesta, said he believes his cousin was beaten up by someone after leaving a local bar, and is offering a $1,000 reward for the capture of the suspect.
Volpendesta believes what happened to his cousin was a crime because of the type of injuries. He said the family was told police would be trying to examine video surveillance from inside the club his cousin visited that night.
"He got beaten hard,'' according to Volpendesta, who said the victim has not had any problems recently that could have led to something like this.
Volpendesta said that as of Wednesday, his cousin remained in an induced coma at Northwestern and may be kept that way for up to to seven days.
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