A successful lawyer, entrepreneur, and champion of Chicago’s minority business owners was brutally beaten for seven minutes after he stopped to comfort a young child whose father was involved in a domestic altercation on a Loop street corner last week, according to prosecutors and CPD records. The victim’s wife is a former high-ranking staff member in the city’s government.
The victim, age 44, was unconscious for most of the beating and may lose vision in one of his eyes, prosecutors said. CWBChicago is not naming the man because he is a crime victim.
He was walking near Monroe Street and Wacker Drive — steps from the Sears Tower — when he came upon 24-year-old Pasquel Nava and a woman who were arguing while looking for their car around 11 p.m. Tuesday, prosecutors said. When Nava grabbed the woman, who was carrying a baby, the victim stepped in to comfort the 11-year-old child who was with them, according to prosecutors.
Nava turned his attention to the attorney and pushed the man, causing his keys, wallet, and legally possessed handgun to fall to the ground, prosecutors said. As the man tried to pick up his property, Nava allegedly punched him in the face, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground.
For the next seven minutes, Nava stomped on the man’s head, punched him, kicked him, and dragged him around, according to prosecutors.
When police eventually arrived, they saw Nava yelling at the fallen man with blood on his hands, prosecutors said. Officers took Nava into custody at the scene.
The victim, who underwent surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and will require more surgeries, was still hospitalized this weekend, prosecutors said. He suffered a torn left retina, fractured orbital bone, fractured nose, and received more than a dozen stitches, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Nava admitted to hitting the man. Nava was convicted of shooting a man in 2015 but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated battery by discharging a firearm in exchange for a four year sentence.
On Friday, prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, simple assault, and failure to comply with gun offender registration requirements.
His defense attorney said he expects to launch a self defense claim because the victim “approached his minor child while armed with a gun.”
Judge Susana Ortiz set bail at $30,000. Nava must post 10% of that amount to go home on electronic monitoring.
Tuesday night’s attack again illustrates the long response times that have become typical of Chicago’s police department, which has moved over 1,000 cops out of patrol duties to work on specialized citywide units. Last month, CWBChicago shared video of two men being beaten and robbed in the middle of State Street for more than four minutes while witnesses watched. It took Chicago police at least six minutes to arrive at the scene.
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