Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Walking Man's Family, Supporters Trying To Raise $50K For Him After Beating

 Joseph Kromelis, the Walking Man, famous for wandering the Loop, was badly beaten on Tuesday.
Joseph Kromelis, the Walking Man, famous for wandering the Loop, was badly beaten on Tuesday.
View Full Caption
Gettnerman/Flickr

CHICAGO — Family and supporters of the "Walking Man" are trying to raise more than $50,000 to help the Loop icon after he was attacked by a man with a baseball bat.

Joseph Kromelis, dubbed the Walking Man or Walking Dude and famous for wandering the Loop, was badly beaten with a bat Tuesday in the 400 block of East Lower Wacker Drive. He was in serious condition at Northwestern Hospital.

"The streets are his home, the place he has always felt at home until yesterday," Vytas Vaitkus, who said he is Kromelis' nephew, wrote on GoFundMe on Wednesday. "He was brutally attacked with a baseball bat and had his eyes almost gouged out. It is not sure if he will regain use of his eyes."

Vaitkus has raised more than $9,000 in less than one day for Kromelis, but his GoFundMe goal is $50,000. The money will be used to "help save an 'icon' of the Chicago streets. Help giving someone a chance at surviving after being brutally attacked," Vaitkus wrote.

Another GoFundMe for Kromelis has raised more than $2,500, though organizer Janice Riggs wrote that she plans to give the money to Kromelis directly or put it toward his family's fundraiser now that Vaitkus is raising money.

Riggs, who does not know Kromelis beyond seeing him around the city, wrote on GoFundMe that she was raising money for the man because he helps make Chicago "special."

"I don't know what his financial situation is, but it can't do any harm to make sure that he has a nest egg to get him home safely, and set up with any rehab equipment he needs. Heck, he might even need cash to take a cab!" Riggs wrote. "The Walking Man is one of those fixtures of downtown Chicago life that makes our city special.

"The idea that someone as harmless as he is could be attacked spoils a little bit of what I love about this city."

Vaitkus and Riggs could not be immediately reached for comment.

Police said Thursday morning that a man has been charged with reckless conduct for the attack on Kromelis.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: