Woman Describes How She Fought Off A Kidnapping In Logan Square

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Oct 28, 2015 5:21PM



The 2400 block of Richmond Street where the attack happened (Google Maps)

The 26-year-old woman who was attacked on Saturday night in Logan Square is speaking out about her terrifying experience and describing how she managed to fight off an attempted kidnapping.

The woman, who requested anonymity, wrote to Chicagoist, "I am sharing my story because I think there are things to be learned from my experience. I don't think this says anything bad about my neighborhood, I think this could have happened anywhere."

The attack happened in the 2400 block of N. Richmond Ave. at 10:09 p.m. on Saturday. The woman credits Alanis Morrissette, a well-timed kick to her attacker's balls and lessons she learned from the organization Girls Fight Back for fending off a man trying to force her into his car at gunpoint. She writes:

I was walking alone to a friend's house, with headphones on. Someone grabbed me from behind, showed me his gun, and started walking me to his car, saying if I knew what was good for me that I would get in. Once I processed that I wasn't just being mugged, I started to fight back. I screamed HELP I'M BEING ASSAULTED as loud as I possibly could. He started hitting me on the head with his gun and I fell to the ground. People started to yell back and ask if I was OK- the guy yelled "This is my girlfriend"—and I screamed "No I am not" (as if being his girlfriend would change this scenario?) The whole time I was thinking about what my friend had taught me just a few weeks earlier through a program she works for called Girls Fight Back—that these are crimes of opportunity and they aren't expecting a fight. I screamed and struggled as he stood over me and continued to hit me and tried to silence me until I got a solid shot and kicked him in the balls with my 2" stacked heel boots- which gave me a chance to get up and run across the street as he fell back. By that time enough neighbors had come out of their homes that he sped away with my purse. Ladies- be alert and be fierce, you are stronger than you think you are. The police were adamant that you should never let someone relocate you, that it's worth the fight. The moral of this story isn't don't go outside alone- we are adults, living in a city. Being outside alone is a fact of life, and it shouldn't be feared. The point is to believe if some thing terrible were to happen to you, you have the power inside you to fight back. Everyone else- if you hear something or see something that's not right, don't shy away. I am so grateful for those neighbors who came out of their homes and let me in. Special shout out to Alanis Morissette—I truly believe that listening to "You Oughta Know" moments before this happened unleashed a special kind of femme rage in me that helped me fight back (despite the fact that headphones on probably made me a target—duly noted)."

This attack happened two days after another woman was robbed in Logan Square, kidnapped and forced to withdraw from ATMs around town. Police have described the offenders as a black man 18 to 27 years old and a black woman 18 to 20 years old and armed with a chrome handgun. The car was described as a dark sedan.