An 85-year-old woman slammed her head on pavement during a violent mugging outside her Magnificent Mile condo building Tuesday morning, according to police and video footage of the attack secured by CWBChicago
Video shows the woman walking with a cane to the back entrance of her building through the parking garage entrance at 158 East Grand around 10:33 a.m. A man peels off from two companions on the sidewalk and approaches the woman from behind as she prepares to enter the building’s back door.
The offender pulls violently on the woman’s purse strap, which was draped across her chest. She is thrown to the pavement and strikes her head as the attacker continues to yank on her purse strap until it breaks.
He then runs from the garage, but the purse appears to fall from its broken strap outside the garage entrance. The attacker then returns to camera range, snatches up the fallen purse, and walks away as the woman lies on the ground.
Witnesses said the attacker fled westbound on Grand and then climbed a nearby staircase to the main level of Michigan Avenue. He was accompanied by two other people.
A police department spokesperson said the woman was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but CPD did not know her condition. However, a source told CWBChicago the woman is expected to recover.
Area Three detectives are investigating.
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