LINCOLN PARK — A DePaul University student was struck in the head by a man with a "blunt object" Wednesday night, sending her to the hospital, according to police.
The aggravated battery occurred near the corner of Sheffield Avenue and Altgeld Street at 6:35 p.m., police said.
The man approached the 21-year-old student, who was walking westbound on Altgeld, from behind and struck her with a metal object, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman. The man then fled eastbound on foot.
The woman was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in good condition, Estrada said.
She was conscious after the attack but required a number of stitches, according to DePaul Director of Public Safety Bob Wachowski.
The attacker was described as a 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11 black man weighing 160 to 180 pounds with brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion.
He was wearing blue jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt and a baseball hat, police said.
Wachowski said it appeared the incident was a "random attack," and that the man did not make an attempt to rob the student of anything before fleeing.
"This was bizarre," Wachowski said.
The attack occurred in an area just north of DePaul's campus boundaries that is heavily populated, especially around rush hour when the battery occurred.
No one was in custody as of Thursday afternoon.
