Photo: Stitches above his eye, David Coxhead who was riding a bicycle on a Near South Side bike path was knocked off the bike by a mob of kids who hit him with a wooden toy rifle, then beat him in the head on path at Lake Shore Drive near the 31st Street beach. Four boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years old have been charged with one count each of aggravated battery and attempted robbery, Thursday, September 1, 2011. An ITT grad student riding a bicycle on the lakefront path was knocked off his bike by a mob of kids who hit him with a wooden toy rifle, then beat and robbed him Wednesday night, police said.
Four Negro boys — between the ages of 10 and 16 — have been charged with aggravated battery and attempted robbery for the incident, which took place at 9:30 p.m. near 31st Street Beach, Chicago Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said.
David Coxhead, 37, of Hyde Park, said he was riding the route he normally takes home when he was attacked.
“I was southbound between 31st and 35th streets and these kids walked over, crossed the path and one of them pulled out a rifle wrapped in paper and hit me on the forehead,” Coxhead said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
“They knocked me down and they were kicking me,” said Coxhead, who is studying industrial organizational psychology at IIT.
Coxhead said one of the boys — who appeared to be about 12 years old — hit him with the rifle and demanded his belongings while the other kids slowly started to approach him, he said.
“He said, ‘Give me all your s---,’ and I said, ‘Hey, all I have is textbooks here,’ ” said Coxhead. It was dark but he could what he estimated was seven shitheads in the group.
They took the bag and his bike and began running away, leaving him on the ground, bleeding.
Coxhead said another group of youth, who might have tried to warn him prior to the attack, helped him up and called police.
Kubiak said a marked squad car was nearby on Lake Shore Drive, and the suspects, who still had the rifle, were arrested on the 35th Street overpass after dropping the bag.
He was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, where he got 11 stitches above his eye. He also suffered a mild concussion.
Coxhead said he was taken aback by how young his attackers were.
“I was jumped by elementary school kids. It’s a little embarrassing, getting jumped by little kids, but when they have a weapon and take you by surprise, and start clubbing you,” he said.
Although he eventually got his bike and bag back, Coxhead said next time, “I will probably find another way home, where the jungle man doesn't go....”
