WICKER PARK — Charges have been brought against a woman whose evening in Wicker Park Tuesday allegedly included threatening a woman in one incident and striking a man in another, police said.
Police said the 22-year-old woman argued with another woman in the 2000 block of West Crystal Street around 9:15 p.m. After that incident, the woman, who was "upset and causing chaos on the block," went to The Shambles, a tavern at 2050 W. Division St., and got into another conflict with a man outside the bar, police said.
The woman "slapped him on the face, [and] the male pushed her back to defend herself," said Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.
Joe Lin, owner of The Shambles, said in an interview Wednesday that it was he who pushed the woman away after she allegedly slapped his face.
When police arrived, Lin declined to press charges. However, the woman, who lives in the 3300 block of South Ashland Avenue, was charged with assault from the first incident, police said.
Lin and other witnesses said the woman, whom police did not identify, also yelled racial slurs at Lin during the confrontation outside The Shambles.
Lin, who said he had never seen the woman before, called the incident "the strangest thing."
"I was sitting there on the patio talking to a friend, and she walked up to us, screaming" slurs and telling us to "go back to your country," Lin said.
The woman told police Lin hit her "and said she is pregnant," Lin said.
Lin, who has video surveillance for his bar and patio, said he showed the video to police. "If it wasn't for the video, it would have been my word against hers," Lin said.
"The last thing you think is someone will accost you and call you racial slurs. Someone who was already drunk and belligerent was looking to accost anyone and everybody," Lin said.
Lin said he did not press charges against the woman and does not want to waste time going to court over the incident.
She faces a Sept. 10 court date on a simple assault charge.
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