77-Year-Old Hospitalized In 'Vicious,' Random Lincolnwood Attack

LINCOLNWOOD, IL — A 77-year-old Chicago man remained hospitalized Friday after he was knocked unconscious and suffered bleeding in the brain in random attack at a shopping center earlier this week, prosecutors said.

Omar Alsayed, 34, of the 6300 block of N. Sacramento Ave., Chicago, has been charged with one count of aggravated battery in connection with the attack, according to Lincolnwood police.

The older man and his wife had been taking a walk for exercise Monday morning at Lincolnwood Town Center, 3333 W. Touhy Ave., Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Rowland Edwards said at Alsayed's initial court appearance.

But as the couple headed toward the exit around 11 p.m. to leave the mall, they were intercepted by a stranger, the prosecutor told the judge.

"[Alsayed] changed his walking path, lowered his shoulder and struck the victim in the victim's chest with his shoulder, causing the victim to fall backwards to the ground," Edwards said.

The man was knocked unconscious for several minutes. He was taken to the hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit, Edwards said, where he was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Alsayed left the mall immediately and ran back to his car outside, according to the prosecutor.

Edwards said Alsayed admitted pushing the man and identified himself as the person shown in a still photo captured from the scene.

Cook County Assistant Public Defender Lindsey Anderson said Alsayed has recently been living in his car and working as a delivery driver for app-based food delivery services.

Anderson said her client was still recovering from a recent surgery, but she was unaware of any possible mental health issues following a "lucid and helpful" initial phone conversation with him.

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Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said the allegations against Alsayed, if true, were appalling.

"To attack an elderly individual, who was there with his wife trying to exercise, without any cause whatsoever — in a random attack sufficiently vicious to result in the victim to remain hospitalized — is just extraordinary conduct," Calabrese said.

Calabrese ordered Alsayed jailed until a Jan. 21 bond review hearing unless he can come up with the $25,000 cash portion of his bail.

The judge also ordered a medical evaluation of Alsayad, not because of anything he or his attorney said during his bond hearing, Calabrese said, but because "the nature of this allegation is so over-the-top extraordinary that it either shows an absolute callousness of heart or some mental health issues."