Chicago Police have charged a man for the beating of a Chicago fireman that occurred early Wednesday morning in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, which has seen a spate of violent muggings recently.
Brian Ruiz, 20, of the 2100 N. block of Sheffield in Chicago has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery in the attack, according to the Chicago Police Department. One of the counts of aggravated battery was specifically for great bodily harm, according to a CPD press release, and both are felony offenses. Police also charged Ruiz with having a fake ID, and charged a second person with other offenses not specifically connected to the battery.
Ruiz wasn't the only one terrorizing those neighborhoods.
Three men were mugged or beaten in Lincoln Park and Lakeview Tuesday night into Wednesday, one of them an off duty Firefighter, bringing the total number of violent crimes in the affluent neighborhood to 15. Chicago Police announced late Thursday night they had charged a man they say was responsible for one of the attacks.
The attack of the 24-year-old firefighter occurred near Oz Park at around 4 a.m. near the intersection of North Halsted and West Dickens Avenue.
The victim was found beaten and on the ground. He was later taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with “trauma,” according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis. The victim is reported to have a broken trachea, nose and internal bleeding. The police have not released details of the men in custody.
Shortly afterward in Lakeview, another man was mugged at the 900 block of West School Street around 5:25 a.m. by a group of five to six males.
"They punched him, the guy falls to the ground and they take his wallet and run off," Fitzpatrick said. The man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in stable condition, he said.
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Just a half an hour later yet another man was attacked at the 900 block of West Belmont Avenue. This man was pushed to the ground a by a group of men, but he wasn't beleived to have been hurt in the fall.
Capping off a bloody morning, a fourth man was assaulted at 6 a.m. at 3307 N. Wilton Ave. Muggers attempted to take the man's wallet but were unsuccesful.
These attacks were not immediately believed to be connected to the 12 previous muggings and attacks in Lincoln Park and Lakeview, a police notification said, but the violent incidents add to the stress and fear in that neighborhood.
The muggings and attacks in the affluent lakefront neighborhoods make up a small sample of the robberies around the city, The Chicago Reporter notes.
The Reporter compiled a database of the thousands of robberies around the city and published it to a handy map here.
