Serial Machete, Hammer Attacks Reported On North Side: Chicago PD

CHICAGO — Three men have been attacked with a machete and a hammer while walking alone on the north side in recent weeks, prompting police to issue a community alert.

The series of attacks, which appear to be related, began on Sept. 5, when a man walking alone in the Logan Square neighborhood was approached from behind and stabbed multiple times, according to police. The attacked happened shortly after 1 a.m. in the 2600 block of N. Drake Avenue.

On Nov. 20, a man walking his dog in the 2200 block of N. St. Louis Avenue — about 16 blocks north of the first attack — was struck in the back of the head with a hammer then chased with a machete, police said. That attack happened around 2:40 a.m.

"Out of nowhere I’m struck in the head with something hard," the man wrote on Facebook following the attack. "I’m knocked down but turn to look in confusion and this guy is holding a hammer and just looking at me. I say ‘did you just hit me in the head with a f------ hammer?!!"

The man said he fled down an alley when his attacker pulled out a machete.

"[S]omeone was hiding out of sight with an escape vehicle ready clearly intending to do serious harm to passerby," he wrote.

Four days later, around the same time — 2:40 a.m. — another man was walking his dog on the 5800 block W. Altgeld Street in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, about three miles west of the Nov. 20 attack, when he too was approached and slashed multiple times with a machete, police said.

The man, in his 30s, was able to get away and stumble home, where his wife came to his aid and rushed him to the hospital, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“He couldn’t really tell me what happened because he was bleeding a lot and was very faint,” the man's wife told the paper. “I was very scared.”

Despite a "very deep" cut to the man's neck, his wife expects him to be released from the hospital soon.

Police said none of the attacks appeared to be robberies, attempted or otherwise.

In each case, victims described their attacker as a white man, between 25 and 35 years old, 6 feet tall, clean-shaven, with a thin to average build and short brown hair. Police said he was wearing a dark-colored zip-up jacket with weapons concealed underneath. In two of the cases, police said the man fled in a light-colored Toyota Camry.

Authorities cautioned residents to take precautions to prevent similar attacks.

What You Can Do:

• Call 911 to report any suspicious persons, vehicles or activity.
• Be aware of this situation and alert your neighbors.
• Do not walk alone at night.
• Don't talk to strangers or approach strange vehicles.
• Be aware of your surroundings and travel in well-lit and populated areas.

Police asked anyone with information about the attacks to call the area five detective bureau at 312-746-6554.