Felon Charged With Attacking Man, 80, In Store
UPDATED 03/11/11 12:08 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities have charged a Rosemont man with shoving and punching an 80-year-old man while waiting in line for the men's room at a Far Northwest Side grocery store.
Dale Contursi, 47, of the 9600 block of West Higgins Avenue in Rosemont, allegedly knocked the older man's eyeglasses to the floor in the attack.
The Feb. 23 assault was captured on surveillance video in the grocery store in the 4700 block of North Cumberland Avenue, police said.
WATCH THE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO:
Contursi was exiting the restroom at the store around 2 p.m. that day, as the older man stood in an adjacent hallway waiting in line for the same restroom, police said.
Contursi allegedly shoved the older man in the chest, then cornered him and punched him in the face. The older man fell against a wall and his glasses fell to the floor, police said.
The older man suffered facial bruising and swelling, but did not need to go to the hospital, police said.
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Contursi fled the store, but came back exactly a week later around the same time. He left without anything happening, but store security noticed him, and reported him to police.
When Jefferson Park District tactical officers arrived, the security guards gave them a still image of Contursi from the surveillance video, police said.
Police sent out a bulletin for Contursi, and found him sitting on the front stairs of a church two blocks away in the 4900 block of North Cumberland Avenue.
Contursi, who is a convicted felon, was identified as the older man's attacker, police said. He is charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a senior citizen.
Contursi was ordered held on $350,000 bond on March 3, according to Cook County State's Attorney's Office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. He is set to appear in Northwest Felony Court (Br. 42), at 5555 W. Grand Ave., for a preliminary hearing this coming Wednesday.
