Chicago paramedic attacked in Fulton River

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A paramedic was attacked while responding to a call late Friday in the 500-block of West Kinzie in Chicago's Fulton River neighborhood. Her attacker is now facing felony charges.

"I had a crown that was knocked out. I had my foot stomped. I also have injuries to my back," said Susan Schultz, CFD paramedic.

Schultz showed Eyewitness News the crown that was knocked out of her mouth Friday when a man she was trying to help attacked, as she and her partner responded to a call of an unconscious person lying outside the Blommer's Chocolate Factory.

"It was a good 15 minutes. He was hitting with his fist, his legs, kicking, he was completely out of control," said Schultz.

After calling for police three times and not getting a response, they called for their engine company to come and assist. The 27-year-old attacker, who reportedly had a blood alcohol level of .290, kept fighting the entire way to the hospital. Shockingly, the attack was one of two that took place against a Chicago paramedic that same day. Chicago Firefighter's Union President Tom Ryan says these assaults are becoming common place.

"This seems to be happening more and more. Don't know if it's proliferation of drugs out on the street, the violent reaction to those drugs, but you can almost guarantee every time this happens there is some kind of substance abuse involved," said Ryan.

Both Ryan and Schultz say that the unpredictability of the job makes it hard to prevent these attacks, and paramedics often don't have an engine company or a police unit dispatched along with them. This is why they hope to use prosecution as a deterrent.

"If you lay your hand in any way on one of our members, whether it's a firefighter or a paramedic, we are going to do everything in our power to make sure you are charged with a felony and you see the inside of a jail," said Ryan.

Ryan says it's hard to quantify how many of these attacks have taken place, but he says at some point this winter, they were happening on at least a weekly basis.

The attacker now faces aggravated battery charges against the EMT, a class 3 felony.