NEAR WEST SIDE — A man was charged Friday in connection with the Thursday sucker punch attack on a veteran Chicago alderman.
Rafheal Taylor, 30, of the 1400 block of S. Canal St., was charged Friday with felony aggravated battery of a government employee in the Thursday assault of Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th). He also was charged with one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession, Chicago Police said.
Burnett was talking with a resident outside the Near West Side's 27th Ward office at about 7 p.m. Thursday when an unknown man punched him, knocking him to the ground. The sucker-punch attack was captured on surveillance video.
Taylor was apprehended a short time after the attack and was positively identified by Burnett.
At the time, a number of West Loop and Near West Side residents were at the office, 4 N. Western Ave., for Ward Night, a twice-weekly designated time where constituents can ask questions and air their concerns with the alderman.
Burnett refused medical attention and continued with Ward Night.
On Friday, Burnett told DNAinfo Chicago that the man "said he was going to get me and get the mayor."
Before the 7 p.m. attack, the man who punched Burnett came into the 27th Ward office earlier twice, at about 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Burnett said. The man became agitated after staff told him the alderman wasn’t in.
One office worker, fearing for his safety, grabbed a hammer and shooed the man out of the office.
“My staff said the guy was tripping. He walked across the street and stayed there all day,” Burnett said.
Burnett said he believes the man who attacked him may suffer from mental illness.
“If he didn't have mental issues I don’t know why this happened. I don’t know if someone’s after me, if there’s a hit on me,” he said. "It's disturbing."
Taylor is due in Central Bond Court at the Cook County Courthouse Saturday, police said.
No further details are available at this time.
RELATED: ALD. BURNETT SAYS ATTACKER SAID HIS NAME WAS LUCIFER
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