Update September 7, 11:50 a.m. — The individual who was arrested has been released without being charged, according to Kellie Bartoli, a CPD spokesperson. A source said the case is pending because the victim cannot be interviewed and witnesses refused to cooperate with investigators.
A 35-year-old man is in critical condition after a group of people attacked him following an incident on the plaza in front of Wrigley Field early Sunday, according to Chicago police. One person is in custody, and charges were still pending Sunday afternoon, a police spokesperson said, citing preliminary information.
The events leading up to the man’s injuries were captured by Earthcam’s 24-hour Wrigley Field video feed around 2:44 a.m.
In the video, a man wearing a blue shirt and a backwards baseball cap carries a clipboard and a shoulder bag while speaking to a group of men on the plaza. The man walks away, then returns to the group.
It is believed that he is the man who will eventually be critically injured off-camera. According to a source, he frequently works Wrigleyville and the downtown area as a “charity solicitor.”
After he returns to the group, a man taking pictures nearby joins them, and an altercation appears to begin. The man in the blue shirt takes off his shoulder bag, then throws his clipboard to the ground. Tensions escalate, and two women who had been posing for pictures try to break things up.
Eventually, one of the men folds his arms behind his back, and the man in the blue shirt punches him in the face, knocking him to the pavement.
The solicitor tries to run away, but the group appears to catch him as they run off-camera.
Whatever happened next is not seen on the Earthcam video.
A police spokesperson said a man “sustained trauma to the head and body after a group of unknown individuals and a 25-year-old male offender attacked the victim using their hands and feet.”
Paramedics took the victim to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.
The Earthcam video shows police chasing a man back into camera range and taking him into custody. The man appears to be the same man who had been taking pictures earlier.
Police searched the area for other suspects, but no other arrests were made. A CPD spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing.
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