CHICAGO — The man who horribly wounded a flight attendant by hitting her in the head with a log on a Magnificent Mile sidewalk was given a five-year prison sentence on Wednesday.
Bruce Diamond, 54, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in exchange for the sentence from Judge Anjana Hansen. After receiving various credits, he will likely be paroled in 13 months.
The victim, a 23-year-old flight attendant who was enjoying a layover with a co-worker, remained unresponsive for days after the November 13, 2023, attack in front of Burberry, 633 North Michigan. Officials said the woman received significant head and brain injuries, but no updates have been released regarding her recovery.
Footage from a city surveillance camera, secured by CWBChicago through a public records request, showed the attack. It showed people were going about their day shortly after 2 p.m. as a small group of shoppers headed north past the Burberry store.
Diamond was heading south on the same sidewalk. Gripped under his right arm was a long, white log that prosecutors said he had just stolen from a decorative display at a nearby Starbucks.
Directly in front of the Burberry entrance, Diamond hoisted the log above his shoulder and hurled it directly at the woman. It struck her in the head, rendering her unconscious and sending her falling to the pavement.
Prosecutors said the victim “sustained bruising, swelling, and bleeding to her brain, a hemorrhage, and a fracture to her left mastoid.”
As bystanders stopped to help the woman, Diamond picked up the log and raised it over his shoulder, seemingly to threaten passersby. They turned on their heels and ran.
Diamond continued walking south, took one step into Ontario Street, then walked back toward the fallen victim. At the same time, a Chicago police officer walked into camera range. He ordered Diamond to drop the log and placed him into custody.
Here is a portion of the city’s surveillance video. We removed the moment of impact and the woman’s fall from this clip, but the footage may still be upsetting to some viewers:
Less than a week after the attack, prosecutors dropped the pending misdemeanor battery case that he went AWOL from.
Prosecutors said Diamond had 21 criminal convictions in Ohio since 2011. In one of those cases, he was accused of throwing a rock at a Cincinnati Fire Department ambulance in the city’s Government Square, according to a contemporaneous report by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Diamond’s five-year sentence will be halved for good behavior. He is also receiving credits for 517 days earned in jail. That leaves him with a balance of 400 days to serve in prison.
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