CHICAGO — A Chicago man was critically injured on Monday when he was attacked and beaten with a construction sign and his own bicycle while riding through the city’s South Loop, authorities said.
According to the Chicago Police Department, the 62-year-old was attacked at about 1 a.m. CDT in the 2200 block of South State Street, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Witnesses said the assailant hit the victim with a construction sign and then grabbed the man’s bicycle and began striking him with it, WLS-TV reported.
It was unclear what led to the attack.
Paramedics arrived and gave the victim CPR before taking him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the television station. He was listed in critical condition.
“I’m saddened but I have hope,” Mark Anderson, who lives near the site of the attack, told WLS. “I’m full of hope. I’m sad when I hear anybody being a victim of unnecessary acts of violence. There’s no need for that man to be treated the way he was treated.”
Another resident,l Maureen Battiste, said that she always “feels on edge” when commuting through the area.
“Every time I come through here,” Battiste told WLS. “It’s OK during the daytime but it’s like once the sun goes down, I make sure not to get caught around here.”