A man is accused of choking an 8-year-old girl until she passed out in the bathroom of a restaurant in Chicago’s South Loop.
ABC 7 reports that the girl was with her mother at the Jason’s Deli in the 1200-block of South Canal Street on Saturday, police said. The girl and her mother were inside the restroom separated by stalls around 1:15 p.m.
Police say 33-year-old Reese Hartstirn walked in and targeted the girl, choking her and trying to lock her in a stall. The mother heard her daughter scream and grabbed her.
Police said other people in the deli helped hold the man until officers arrived.
The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, but police did not have information about her condition.
Hartstirn, of the 500-block of North Racine Avenue, was charged with aggravated kidnapping of a child, aggravated battery of a child and battery causing bodily harm.
Police said he was also charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer because he swung at an officer who booked him at the Central District station.