Couple, Both 72, Followed Through Irving Park From Blue Line And Brutally Beaten
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly couple was viciously attacked while heading home in broad daylight in Irving Park recently.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Monday night, the couple believes the man followed them from the Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line – and then started punching and kicking them for no clear reason.
You could still see the bruises to Bob Tataryn's face Monday night. He and his wife, Katheryn, were still recovering following the walk home in the Irving Park neighborhood that left him bloody and with a broken nose. The attack was random, and the attacker didn't even steal anything – except, of course, for the victims' peace of mind.
"We're city people," Tataryn said. "We take the Blue Line as much as we can."
Tataryn said it was 3 p.m. one day last week when they got to the Irving Park Road Blue Line platform in the median on the Kennedy Expressway - and he realized someone was right behind him.
"Here's a guy trying to squeeze into the turnstile with her," he said.
And when they came down the platform, Tataryn said the same man did not let up.
"And the guy was four feet away from us, still," he said.
The Tataryns, both 72, decided to cross the street. But Bob Tataryn said the guy was still close behind – and when they got to the intersection of Avondale Avenue and Irving Park Road, Tataryn turned around and asked.
"'Are you following us?'" Tataryn said. 'And he mumbles something and says, 'You got a problem?'"
The next thing the couple knew, the man attacked and started swinging.
"He hit her – left, right, left, right - broke her jaw, and broke her wrists," Bob said of his wife.
Afterward, the man turned his aggression Bob's way.
"Then he clocked me - the same procedure – I would say six, seven, eight times to the head, and I went down," he said.
Realizing the man was not going to stop, Bob came up with a sob story about his wife's health in hopes of defusing the attack.
"I yelled out, 'My wife - she's really sick, she's got cancer!'" Bob Tataryn said. "He turned and walked away."
Katheryn Tataryn does not really have cancer. But the daytime attack left her in need of two surgeries to deal with two broken wrists and a broken jaw.
She is unable to open her mouth now and can only eat liquid food like soup – and that is going to be the case for six to eight weeks.
While the attack left the Tataryns shaken, Bob said they are not going to be scared to keep living.
"Don't let them win," he said. "Don't let the bad guy win."
Bob's wife did not appear in this story, because she is so bruised that she is ashamed with how she looks. But her loving husband will be there affirming his love as the swelling goes down.
Chicago Police have not made an arrest in their case.
