Woman stabbed while walking dog, Chicago cops say. Then, 2 ‘good Samaritans’ step in
Update: Wilson Barreno, 25, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery in the stabbing of a 71-year-old woman, Chicago police said.
The original story continues below.
As 71-year-old Arlene Rado took her dog for an afternoon walk June 5 in downtown Chicago, the unexpected happened.
A man came up behind the woman, wrapped his left arm around her neck and stabbed her seven times in the neck and back using a “sharp object,” Chicago police said and her husband, Alan Rado, told McClatchy News.
“She thought she was being punched in the back,” Alan Rado said in a phone interview. “She didn’t realize she was being stabbed until she saw blood dripping down onto the sidewalk.”
The person took off, Alan Rado said, and his wife later told him she couldn’t get a “good look of him” because he was behind her.
As the situation unfolded near Union Station, two “good Samaritans” stepped in, the husband said.
One chased the suspect for three blocks, trapping him in a parking garage, Alan Rado said. Police arrived and took the suspect into custody.
The other person rushed to Arlene Rado’s aid, Alan Rado said. Pulling from his luggage, the man “got out a piece of clothing and pressed it against my wife’s back,” Alan Rado said. Arlene Rado called her husband and told him what happened.
“‘You got stabbed? What?’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll be there as quickly as possible,’” Rado recounted. He arrived five minutes later, right as his wife was being loaded into an ambulance. He recovered their dog, Mickey, and took him home.
The woman was rushed to a hospital, but Alan Rado said none of his wife’s major organs were struck during the incident.
“She’s in good spirits, but she’s uncomfortable because he stabbed her three times in the lower back,” Alan Rado said. She’s continuing to recover in the hospital for another day before she returns home, he said.
The couple has lived in the West Loop neighborhood for nearly 20 years and said they feel safe in the area, Alan Rado said.
However, this experience left the couple in shock.
“It just came out of absolutely nowhere, and in the middle of the day,” he said. “I think all of these factors just.. shocked me.”
Police said charges are pending, and detectives are investigating.
This story was originally published June 6, 2024 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Woman stabbed while walking dog, Chicago cops say. Then, 2 ‘good Samaritans’ step in."
