Walmart Strangler Randomly Attacked Woman: Prosecutor

HODGKINS, IL -- Shoppers detained a man after he walked up to a woman at random and started strangling her with a belt at the Hodgkins Walmart store, prosecutors said. Allen Tidwell, 61, appeared before Cook County Judge John Gallagher on charges of attempted aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon. Tidwell was taken into police custody on Sunday.

Hodgkins police were called to the Walmart Supercenter on Joliet Road in Hodgkins around 10:50 a.m. April 23. The woman was shopping in the store when Tidwell approached her and wrapped a belt around her neck, the prosecutor said. When she asked him why he was strangling her, Tidwell allegedly replied, “I feel like killing someone.”

The woman said she did not know Tidwell and had never seen him before. Other shoppers detained Tidwell until police arrived, the prosecutor said. Tidwell allegedly admitted to police he had attempted to strangle the shopper.

The assistant public defender told the judge that Tidwell lived in a trailer park in Countryside. He is under a psychiatrist’s care for schizophrenia. According to court records, Tidwell has no criminal past.

The prosecutor said police did not photograph the woman’s neck for injuries, but did note in a police report that there was bruising.

Judge Gallagher released Tidwell on a $10,000 I-bond but ordered him to 24/7 electronic home monitoring.

“If you leave your house you will be arrested,” the judge told him.

“I don’t have cable TV,” Tidwell said. “It got shut off eleven days ago.”

Tidwell’s next court appearance is May 10 in Bridgeview.