Man, 61, Hit In Head With Brick By Teens In Humboldt Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 61-year-old man was in the trauma unit of an area hospital Friday, after being attacked and hit in the head with a brick by a group of three teenage boys in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The man was attacked around 7:15 p.m. Thursday in the 3800 block of West Grand Avenue, police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said.
The suspects, described only as three boys between the ages of 13 and 15, confronted the victim during a robbery and struck him in the head with a brick, according to News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.
The man fell to the ground, and a struggle began, Kubiak said. He ended up being hit on the side of his head, and suffering bruises and lacerations.
The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, where he was listed in serious condition, she said.
The victim's wife, Dalila Lopez, was reached by phone Friday morning at the hospital where the victim remained in the trauma unit.
"He has some bleeding on the brain," she said. "He's kind of disoriented, and he still doesn't remember exactly what happened to him. He knows he's hurt, but..." she said.
The couple lives in the Northwest Side's Portage Park neighborhood, and the man runs a small business from a garage he rents in the area of the attack, she said. He was waiting for a bus to take him home when it happened.
"He was attacked right there, before the bus came, by a group of youths. I suppose they wanted to rob him but he put up a fight and they hit him with a brick," Dalila Lopez said.
He fell to the ground and suffered a blow to the right upper side of his head and fractures to his face, she said. He was undergoing a second CT scan and also suffered bleeding on the brain.
The suspects ran away, she said, adding she didn't thing they were able to steal anything.
Lopez said her husband did not have a bicycle, as originally reported, and she has heard of several thefts in that area recently.
Lopez said authorities were trying to see if businesses in the area had cameras that captured what happened.
Asked why her husband was attacked, she said it was a "good question" and she did not think it was racially motivated.
"It's just youth out there trying I suppose to get money for drugs and stuff," she said.
Kubiak said no arrests have been made as of Friday morning. Grand Central Area detectives are investigating.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
