ONLY ON 2: Video Shows 85-Year-Old Woman Being Attacked, Knocked To Ground By Robber In Garage Near Mag Mile
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly woman was brutally attacked in a parking garage near the Magnificent Mile Tuesday, all for her purse.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Tuesday night, the attack was captured on a disturbing video.
The parking garage on Grand Avenue off Michigan Avenue is used by drivers, and it also connects to a nearby apartment building. There are cameras all around, but it wasn't enough to deter a crook from targeting the woman as she tried walking through a door.
On Tuesday morning, the woman – who is in her 80s and was walking with a cane – had no idea what a man who was keeping a safe distance was up to. But before she could open the door to her building, he made his intentions clear in an attack that is downright painful to watch.
Seeing the morning attack for the first time shook those who live in the building.
"The first question is why," one resident said. "Is she OK?"
The woman's head hit the ground as the man snatched her purse.
"What is an old woman carrying these days – maybe a credit card and a phone that nobody wants because it wouldn't have a camera on it, you know, an older person phone?" said Roupen Demirdjian.
A closer look at the video shows the robber dropped the purse while running away. He quickly circled back to get what he stole, and despite seeing the elderly woman lying motionless, he left her alone.
"I just happened to pull in," Demirdjian said. "I park in that garage."
Demirdjian saw the blood-stained parking garage entrance and learned about the robbery, which happened just before 11 a.m. Tuesday.
"It's more than just a purse snatching," Demirdjian said.
Demirdjian and others insisted this speaks to the uptick of crime going on steps away from the Magnificent Mile, and around the corner from his restaurant, Sayat-Nova.
"I really hope that nobody is afraid to walk the streets around here, but I don't think that's going to be for a while," he said.
The woman was taken to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital by ambulance. Police are checking additional surveillance in the area.
"Something like that though, it just seems like it's a bit hard to prevent," the resident said.
But residents said they will be more alert. Yet, their focus is on their neighbor.
"Kind of worried about her, yeah," the resident said. "Hope she's OK, especially being older, you know, having those type of injuries."
The 85-year-old woman is reportedly doing OK despite hitting her head on the pavement. Police said they were hoping there were better surveillance and security cameras that better captured the assailant's face.
