Two women hospitalized after being attacked by man armed with hammer in Crystal Lake

Police are searching for a man who beat two women with a hammer on a Crystal Lake bike trail, leaving the women hospitalized Tuesday evening, authorities said.

The McHenry County Conservation District Police Department and Crystal Lake Fire Rescue responded around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday to the Ridgefield Trace bike trail near Crystal Ridge Drive and Oak Street in Crystal Lake for a 911 call about a battery.

A witness said that a man on a bike attacked a woman with a hammer and another woman, who tried to intervene, was also beaten by the man.

The two women were transported to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital with injuries that are believed to be non-life-threatening, police said.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic or Filipino man in his mid-50s, 5-foot-7, clean-shaven, stocky build, wearing a Green Bay Packers hat, forest green sweatshirt and dirty jeans.

The incident remains under investigation by the McHenry County Conservation District Police Department. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, McHenry County College Police Department and Crystal Lake Police Department assisted during the call.

Anyone with information is asked to call conservation police at 815-338-2144.