Oct. 25--A former member of the Royal Air Force visiting Chicago with his girlfriend was stabbed and robbed near Oak Street Beach late Saturday night, then chased and tackled one of the robbers after tracking down his stolen iPhone, according to police and the couple.
"The first day in Chicago, and (I) get stabbed," joked Neil McCarthy, who now lives in Minneapolis. "It's been an especially relaxing weekend in Chicagotown.
"It's hilarious,'' he added, talking by cellphone Sunday morning while filling prescriptions for his wounds at a Walgreens.
McCarthy, 27, and his girlfriend, Carisa Lerner, 26, had taken a Megabus to Chicago for a weekend getaway. They had spent the evening eating pizza at Navy Pier and then took a walk along North Michigan Avenue.
It was getting late, so they wanted to head back to their Magnificent Mile hotel around 11:50 p.m. Saturday, the couple said.
They were in the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive near Oak Street Beach and tried to use the underground tunnel to get to the beachside, but they became confused, the couple said. They turned around and decided to use the street to cross instead.
When they got to a bike path near the sand, they spotted three people.
"Three men were there waiting. They surrounded us and circled us," Lerner said. "They were like, 'Hey give us your money, iPhones, whatever.' "
McCarthy said he handed over his money, wallet and phone. "But they were still asking him for things," Lerner said.
A "bigger" guy then turned his attention to Lerner, asking for her cash and valuables. She told him she never carried cash but had credit cards.
"I gave him my credit cards, and then he started grabbing me and going into my pockets. He didn't believe me," Lerner said.
McCarthy said that made him angry.
"I was fine with them robbing me, it's not worth getting stabbed to defend my wallet and my iPhone, so I gave them my phone. But when I turned around and they were getting Carisa ... I kind of said, 'Don't hurt my girlfriend,' " McCarthy said.
McCarthy jumped onto the man going through her pockets. "When I threw him off her, he shouted to his mates, 'Back me up, stab this guy!'''
At that point "a guy with a knife came at me" and stabbed him in the arm, McCarthy said. But when McCarthy got that man in a headlock, the other two began punching him in the head. McCarthy's hand was sliced up as he wrestled the knife away.
"I grabbed the blade. My hand is sliced to pieces, but it's better that it cuts my hand than my neck," he said. "I was defending myself.''
Lerner said things became "kind of a blur," and she realized her boyfriend had been stabbed.
"I was yelling for help, trying to find someone, anyone. ... There was one passer-by who was able to call the cops," Lerner said.
The suspects ran off, and police and an ambulance showed up. McCarthy, who was bloody, ran toward the police with the knife and told them what happened.
Lerner began using the Find My iPhone app, and when it pinged, McCarthy walked toward the sound and saw one of the three attackers.
"I saw the guy, and he saw me see him, and I chased him,'' McCarthy said. "I got him in a headlock and dragged him back to the police car.''
Officers put the suspect into handcuffs, and McCarthy identified him. Police said charges were pending.
McCarthy was treated and released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The other two suspects remained at large.
McCarthy said he didn't recover his British passport, which Lerner had in her pocket. He is British and is attending the University of Minnesota on a study visa.
"It's been an exciting holiday," McCarthy said. "It's been quite an adventure. It was a pretty action-packed night."
At the police station, an officer told him, "We need more people like you,'' McCarthy said.
Lerner, who works at a company that sells honey, said she was willing to talk about the attack in hopes it would help others.
"We probably should have been more careful, but you know. Stuff happens ... and you learn from it.''
The couple planned to spend the rest of the weekend ordering in at their hotel and watching football.
Chicago Tribune's Peter Nickeas contributed.
