April 05--Hinsdale police are looking for a man who allegedly assaulted a Hinsdale Central student Monday afternoon near Clay Street and Hinsdale Avenue.
The 16-year-old girl told police she was getting out of her vehicle about 2:20 p.m., when a white man, described as 25 to 30 years old, about 6 feet tall, with black hair and black facial stubble, struck her in the face and knocked her to the ground. The man, wearing black sweat pants and a black hooded sweatshirt, fled to the north toward the railroad. The attack happened about a block east of the Hinsdale swimming pool, police said.
The girl was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove with injuries not believed to be life threatening, said Bradley Bloom, Hinsdale's director of public safety. The girl had been driving and was alone in the vehicle, Bloom said.
The girl said she did not recognize her attacker. The man said something to the teenager, Bloom said, but he would not reveal what the offender said because the case is an ongoing investigation.
There was no indication the man was trying to rob the girl or that any traffic altercation preceded the man striking her.
"There is no indication it was anything other than an unprovoked attack," Bloom said. "It doesn't make sense to us."
The police do not know from which direction the man came. The girl did not see him until he was striking her, Bloom said. After she was knocked down, she called 911 from her own cellphone.
"It's very unusual for something like this to have happened at 2 in the afternoon and in such a well-traveled area and we are hoping that someone saw something," said police Chief Kevin Simpson.
People who live even a few blocks away from where the attack happened are asked to check their home video surveillance systems for images of anyone who may fit the description of the suspect. Anybody with information or who noticed unusual behavior, should call the Police Department at 630-789-7070.
kfornek@pioneerlocal.com
