A 66-year-old veteran of Vietnam and a former Chicago police officer was beaten in a sudden attack in a suburban parking garage, a report says.
Richard Jones, a disabled army veteran who walks with a cane and has Parkinson’s disease, was punched in the face without warning in a parking garage in the town of Palos Park, a suburban city south of Chicago. The Vietnam veteran and retired Chicago cop suffered a broken nose, two black eyes, scrapes and bruises on his arms and legs, as well as a bleed in his brain.
Jones, who was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in Vietnam, said that the explosion of unexpected violence came after he scolded a young man for driving too fast in the condo parking garage.
“I turned around to walk away and when I did, Boom! I went down to the ground,” Jones told Chicago’s WGN TV. “He must have knocked me out. All I remember after that is trying to block my face and he was punching the hell out of my face.”
Surveillance video of the garage shows the attacker pummeling the prone veteran with blow after blow as the elderly man tries desperately to shield his face.
The beating only ended when a neighbor intervened and pulled the attacker away from the veteran.
Police arrested 21-year-old Michael Seno for the attack. He is charged with misdemeanor battery and had an order of protection taken out against him as a measure to protect the victim and his wife. Seno was issued a November 16 court date.
Chicago’s ABC affiliate reported that Seno has a record of seven traffic violations as well as a charge of possession of marijuana.
Jones later criticized Seno for the unwarranted violence. “His parents didn’t raise him right,” he said. “I feel that by trying to protect little children in our own courtyard by telling him to simply slow down was not a call to war on a senior citizen and disabled veteran. That shows very poor upbringing and character on his part.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com