CHICAGO — A woman is in critical condition after a man randomly attacked her on the Magnificent Mile on Monday afternoon. Chicago police are questioning a suspect in the attack, which occurred directly across the street from where a man was killed in a random assault earlier this year.
A Chicago police spokesperson said the woman, 23, was in the 600 block of North Michigan when a man threw an object at her around 2:10 p.m. The object struck the woman in the head, leaving her in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the spokesperson.
CPD officers posted nearby placed the assailant into custody almost immediately. Charges are pending as of Tuesday afternoon.
A source familiar with the investigation said the woman was struck in the face with a log outside Burberry, 633 North Michigan. The impact knocked her unconscious, and she fell to the ground. Citing preliminary information, the source said the woman was believed to be a flight attendant who was shopping while on a layover in Chicago.
The woman was attacked just steps from where Russ Long, a 49-year-old River North resident, was killed in a random assault on June 29.
Long was outside the Cartier store, 630 North Michigan, when Henry Graham, 49, approached from behind and plowed his fist into the back of Long’s head, according to prosecutors.
The punch sent Long falling to the sidewalk. He struck his head, lost consciousness, and died several days later from head injuries suffered in the attack, officials said. As Long bled on the ground, Graham sat down on a nearby fire hydrant and stared at him for about five minutes, prosecutors said.
He walked away upon hearing sirens in the distance. Two witnesses followed him and pointed him out to Chicago police officers. Graham allegedly admitted to the officers that he hit Long and knocked him unconscious. Nonetheless, the cops let him go and CPD didn’t even generate a report about the attack for four days.
Chicago police arrested Graham at the Cook County jail on October 25. He again admitted to hitting Long, and he demonstrated on video how he did it, prosecutors said as they charged him with first-degree murder. The case is still pending.
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