UPDATE APRIL 9, 2:40PM — Chicago police this afternoon offered new information about the incident: The security guard, a suburban policeman, was on-duty for the McDonald’s restaurant Saturday afternoon. He was leading the two men out of the restaurant when one of them struck the guard on the head with a glass bottle, police said. A struggle ensued and was captured on video.
A CPD spokesperson on Monday said the department did not have a report about the incident on file. Today, however, Chicago police said officers were called to the scene, but the two offenders were gone by the time cops arrived. The security guard was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
A spokesperson for McDonald’s said, “We will continue to take appropriate measures to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for our customers.”
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Video emerged today of an armed man pulling his weapon to ward off two apparent attackers near the Magnificent Mile, just two days after widespread mob action prompted police to arrest 21 people in the area.
The video, filmed from inside McDonald’s at 10 East Chicago, shows two males attacking a middle-aged man who appears to be a security guard. The man is slammed against the restaurant’s outside wall by the pair who punch and grapple the older man as he works to free himself.
Within moments, one of the two apparent attackers picks up an object that appears to be a pepper spray canister while the armed man continues to struggle with the other person.
Suddenly, the man with the canister runs away as the older man returns to camera view with a handgun pointed raised at shoulder height.
As the armed man stands near the restaurant property line, the object that one of the apparent attackers picked up off the ground rolls to his feet. The second youth, apparently suffering the effects of pepper spray, raises his shirt to wipe his face.
McDonald’s did not immediately respond to inquiries seeking comment about the incident. A spokesman for nearby Loyola University stated that the armed man is not affiliated with the school’s police department, as rumored on social media. A Chicago police spokesman said no report had been filed in connection with the incident.
CWBChicago reported this morning that police had confirmed the arrests of 21 people on Saturday afternoon in the River North and Magnificent Mile neighborhoods during the first “mob” activity of 2019. The high arrest count is the result of a new, less-tolerant approach by police assigned to handle “large group” incidents in the downtown area. See our report here.
