THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED
LAKEVIEW — Police sources say a man who was badly injured in Lakeview and whose family is collecting money for his medical expenses may not have been beaten after all.
Supporters on GoFundMe raised over $8,500 for the man whose family members said was beaten near Sheffield and Barry about 2 a.m. Saturday.
But police now say they are investigating the incident as an accidental injury and have no record of a battery involving a male victim at the time and location, Officer Veejay Zala said Monday afternoon.
Shan Hartman created the GoFundMe account Saturday night. According to the page, the victim was out to celebrate a friend's birthday when he was attacked near Sheffield and Barry, just south of the Belmont 'L' station.
The Chicago Fire Department said they responded to a call of a battery in progress and took the man to Illinois Masonic Hospital with a facial injury, but had no further details.
"He was hit (and possibly kicked) repeatedly shattering his teeth and causing 4 fractures in his jaw and multiple facial fractures along with 4-5 missing teeth," Hartman wrote.
Police sources, however, told a different story, saying officers did respond to the area — where they discovered an "intoxicated person." Sources also said the injured man told emergency room staff that he fell while he was running and hit his mouth on the concrete curb.
The next day, his family contacted police wanting to file a report, but when a detective asked the victim what happened, he said he did not remember, police said. His family told officers he had been at bars in the area prior to being injured.
The victim's family maintains there was a battery, but declined to comment.
The man suffered four jaw fractures, multiple facial fractures and lost at least four teeth, the GoFundMe page states.
"Terrible things always happen to the people who deserve it the least," Hartman wrote. "He's always the first one to help out his family and friends in times of need."
Ariel Cheung discusses what some neighbors want from area police:
It will take months of surgeries for the victim to recover, and Hartman said she hoped to give him "one less thing to worry about when he's recovering."
"With the amount of surgeries [he] is going to have in the upcoming months, he will be missing several weeks to months of work on top of mounting medical bills," she wrote.
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