Rideshare driver shot trying to stop Chinatown beating, robbery | Video

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A father of three young kids was shot in the chest while on the job in Chinatown on Wednesday.

Paul Bessette, a rideshare driver, said he was waiting for a passenger at a bar in the 2200-block of Wentworth Avenue around 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday near Chicago's Chinatown Gateway.

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While he was waiting, he saw an older man getting beaten up and robbed in the street. He then honked in an effort to stop the attack.

"The guy was bleeding out of his head, and they were still hitting him. And I was just thinking, man someone needs to do something," Bessette said.

That's when a bullet went through the passenger window and struck him in the chest.

"The only reason it hit me where it did is because I put my seat back to relax while I was waiting. If my seat was in a regular position, it would have hit me right in the side of my body and gone through my lungs. I probably wouldn't be in a good position in the hospital, if I was even alive," he told ABC7 Chicago.

Exclusive surveillance video from a nearby store shows a man running away from the suspects on Wentworth, while Bessette is parked in his Tesla on the side of the road.

"So, I just pulled my car towards them, and honked my horn really loudly, thinking that would help, and get them to stop doing what they're doing. And one of them just shot me right through the window of my car," Bessette said.

Video shows Bessette managing to turn around and drive away, with the suspects chasing after him.

He was able to call 911 near 33rd Street and Wentworth.

"It was more shocking than anything, you know, the loud noise, and the feeling of being shot. So, I just grabbed my chest with my right hand, and turned the wheel with my left hand, and gunned it out of there," Bessette said. "Thought about my kids for a second, and thought, 'I should probably call 911.'"

He said this incident is another reason he'd like to move out of Chicago.

"It's really an awful situation that people can just go around and jump people, and fire off weapons and pretty much not feel like they'll ever get in trouble. That's what it seems like," Bessette said.

Bessette was treated and released from the hospital.

He credited Chicago police with saving his life.

Bessette said he can't afford to stop rideshare driving, so he plans to protect himself going forward.

"I was thinking about protecting myself with a weapon before, and now I'm 100 percent doing it," Bessette said.

No one is in custody. CPD Area One detectives are investigating.

Police said the man who was robbed is also expected to be OK.

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