The woman was walking down the street in the Old Irving Park neighborhood around 11:45 p.m. Thursday when the man grabbed her from behind, and knocked her to the ground, trying to get her purse. She fought back, and police say the man beat her but was scared off by neighbors and fled without the purse.
"I head someone screaming, so I went out to the front porch to see if I could see what was going on," witness Gerry Klemm said.
Klemm witnessed the tail end of the attack, but neighbors said the woman was walking to her car after dropping off a friend when a man came up behind her and tried to steal her purse.
"All she remembered was she told me she was walking to her car that she parked on the street, I think Eddy and Kedvale, or that area. And she heard the person walking, but he was walking too fast, and she was almost to the car, and the next thing she remembers is she tried to drop her bag. I think she was fighting, she remembered that," said the victim's friend, who did not want to be identified.
"The minute I came down the stairs, this kid ran down the street. And then I had to go all the way behind her car in order to find her. And she was a bloody mess. He beat her face so bad she was bleeding all over," Klemm said.
The woman is in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Illinois Masonic Hospital, where she is being treated for facial injuries. The victim's friend said she is conscious but in a lot of pain.
"The main injury that I could see was the face injury. She said a lot of swelling, a lot of stitches," said the victim's friend.
"Very quiet neighborhood, no problems until now. A little concerned. We just have to be a little more vigilant," said neighbor John Luczak.
Police say they have a vague description of the attacker, but no suspect is in custody.
