Man Wanted For Beating Couple On New Year's
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police are searching for a man who attacked and brutally beat a couple as they got out of a cab in the bustling Lincoln Park neighborhood in the wee hours of New Year's Day.
The man and woman were getting out of a taxi in the 2500 block of North Halsted Street in the early morning hours Jan. 1, when a man they didn't know tried to engage them in conversation, police said.
Moments later, without provocation, the strange man hit the woman. She fell to the ground, and suffered serious injuries to the areas around her mouth and jaw.
As the man who was with the woman tried to help her, the assailant hit him in the face several times, causing lacerations to his mouth.
The cab driver witnessed the attack, and rolled down his driver's side window and began yelling at the assailant. The assailant then punched the cab driver.
The assailant then fled the scene and ran west on Wrightwood Avenue. He has not been seen since.
The attacker is described as an African-American male, between the ages of 30 and 35, standing 6 feet 2 to 6 feet 5 inches tall, clean shaven, with short black hair and a medium complexion. Police have also released a sketch of the assailant.
The stretch of Halsted Street where the attack happened is just to the north of DePaul University, and is busy with auto and foot traffic well into the wee hours every day with taverns such as Goodbar, 24-hour restaurants, and the blues clubs B.L.U.E.S. and Kingston Mines.
Anyone who can help police find the assailant is asked to call Belmont Area Detectives at (312) 744-8261, or 911.
