CHICAGO — An 8-year-old girl was dragged into a bathroom stall and choked unconscious at a South Loop deli after being separated from her mother, police and restaurant employees said.
The girl's mom interrupted the attack at the Jason's Deli, 1258 S. Canal St., after hearing her daughter scream, though. Customers at the deli then grabbed and held the man until he was arrested, police said.
Reese Hartstirn, 33, of the 500 block of North Racine Avenue, was charged with felony counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery of a child. He was also charged with aggravated battery to the girl's mom and of a peace officer. He was in court Monday and was held without bond, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
The girl was with her mother at a deli near Canal Street and Roosevelt Road when the two got separated and the girl went into the store's bathroom around 1 p.m. May 7, said Officer Laura Amezaga, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
Hartstirn allegedly picked up the girl and carried her into a stall and "told her that her mother wasn't coming for her," a police report states, as he was strangling her.
The mother then heard screams from the bathroom, and went in to find him choking the girl, Amezaga said. He shoved the mom, but then other customers came in and helped hold the man until police came, a police report states.
The daughter was taken Comer Children's Hospital, but police could not say what condition the girl was in.
At some point after Hartstirn was arrested, the man took off all his clothes and started swinging at police, officials said. He was also taken to the hospital.
A Jason's Deli spokeswoman said "we’re blessed to have a wonderful relationship with the Chicago Police Department. Many of them are our customers and because of their connection to our deli, this unfortunate situation was handled very quickly. We’re proud of how our team members responded and thankful that we have the kind of customers that are willing to lend a hand in a difficult situation. We continue to work hard every day to make every customer happy."
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