Chicago

‘I Hate to Do This': Video Shows Man Trying to Grab Store Clerk, Chasing Her Out of North Side Perfume Shop

According to footage from the scene, the man, acting as though he plans to buy something, tells the 26-year-old store clerk “I hate to do this” before reaching over the counter to grab her

Police are searching for a man who walked into a perfume store on Chicago’s North Side and tried to grab a store clerk before chasing her out of the building in a frightening incident that was all caught on camera.

The assault happened just before 3 p.m. Thursday in the 4800 block of North Western Avenue at Palette Fragrances in the city’s popular Lincoln Square neighborhood.

According to footage from the scene, the man, acting as though he plans to buy something, tells the 26-year-old store clerk “I hate to do this” before running behind the counter trying to grab her.

The woman runs out of the store and the man follows her before fleeing the scene.

"I didn't know if he had a weapon or not because he kept pulling his pants up and he kept touching his pants, his sweater that he had here so I was like, 'Something is not OK,'" said the store clerk, Dulce Carreon. "So that's when I moved away from him." 

Carreon said the man didn't take anything from the store and she believes he had planned on attacking her. 

Police confirmed an assault and criminal damage to property investigation was underway at the shop.

They said they are looking to identify the man seen in the video, who they described as being 35-40 years old, wearing a red hat, grey shirt and black jeans.

The store’s managers noted that one of the shop’s owners, who is pregnant, had arrived at the scene not long before the incident but was out for lunch at the time of the assault. 

Police are asking anyone who may know the man in the footage to call authorities.

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