CHICAGO — After cyclist Jana Kinsman said she was attacked in Logan Square by someone in an SUV, police reclassified her case from a traffic accident to a more serious aggravated battery, police and Kinsman said.
"Good news everyone: the police reclassified my case. The incident is now considered an aggravated battery," Kinsman tweeted early Thursday morning.
Kinsman, founder of the Bike a Bee project, was biking through the neighborhood to check on a friend's cat when a passenger in a maroon-purple SUV started to attack her just after midnight Tuesday, she said.
As she neared Kimball and Wrightwood avenues, a man grabbed her messenger bag and dragged her until she hit a parked car, according to Kinsman. She fell off the bike and hit her hip before bouncing onto the left side of her body, resulting in bruises, she said. The car then left the scene.
The men in the car were “laughing like it was a game or something,” she said Wednesday.
A surveillance video obtained by DNAinfo Chicago shows people rushing to help her after the crash.
Though it was first treated as a traffic accident, police reclassified the incident as an aggravated battery on Wednesday after learning more about what happened, said Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Committing aggravated battery is considered a more serious crime than causing a traffic accident, and if caught, those allegedly responsible would likely face harsher consequences.
Since she was hurt, Kinsman said she has received an outpouring of support from those who want to donate money to help pay her medical bills and repair her bike. By Thursday morning, nearly $9,000 had been raised online to help "Get Jana Back on Her Wheels."
Kinsman said on Thursday that she is "doing well" and going to physical therapy for her injuries. She also plans to take her bike in to get fixed so she can ride again.
While Kinsman is not sure if her attacker will get caught, she's confident that she has "the best chances now," with the support she's received and the lawyers from the offices of James Freeman representing her.
"I know that I have the best people working on it," Kinsman said.
Contributing: Erica Demarest
