A Chicago man enjoying a slice of pizza was savagely beaten and robbed by two brutes in a brazen daylight attack caught on camera Monday — a day before the House Judiciary Committee visited town to hear testimony about how “soft-on-crime” policies have turned the Windy City into an “active warzone.”
The victim, an unidentified 33-year-old, was walking down a residential alleyway in Bucktown around 2:55 p.m. when two males ran up to him from behind and delivered a brutal sucker punch to his head.
Collapsing face-first into a chain-link fence, the victim cried out in surprise as his assailants began to rain blows down on him with their fists and their feet.
“What the fk!” he could be heard yelling. “Get the fk off me! Asshole!”
As the victim tried to resist, the brawl spilled across the alleyway and he managed to bring one of the attackers to the ground — until the other assailant began stomping him with his feet.
“Just let it go, let it go” the attackers were heard saying as they tried to peel away the victim’s backpack, even as a car across the street blared on its horn in an apparent attempt to distract them.
The thieves eventually got hold of the bag and what appeared to be a cell phone — but still delivered one final stomp before calmly walking away.
The witness in the car across the street told CBS News she stayed with the victim until police arrived, and that despite some bruising he seemed to be okay.
Chicago police confirmed to The Post that the victim was transported to a hospital in stable condition.
No suspects have been identified yet, but five investigators have been assigned to the case.
The shocking random attack is the latest example of a city being destroyed by rampant crime.
There has been a disturbing 29% increase in major crime — including murder, sexual assault, robbery, theft and aggravated battery — so far this year, compared to the same period in 2022, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.
Robberies specifically are up 24% this year, compared to the same period last year.
Since 2019, there has been a staggering 54% increase in major crime across the city, according to the data.
Meanwhile, just a day after the violent Bucktown robbery, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee gathered in Chicago to hear testimony about how progressive policies have spurned the crime epidemic.
The committee heard accounts from victims of violent crimes in the city, politicians, and law enforcement agents.
“With all the policies and procedures put into place, officers find themselves with their hands tied behind their back,” testified Carlos Yanez Jr., a retired Chicago cop who was shot four times during a traffic stop, while his partner, Ella French, was killed, WLS reported.
“Officers continue to lap up violent offenders, but we find them back on the street committing even more violent crimes, including murder,” he added.
Fox News contributor and political analyst Gianno Caldwell also testified, after the South Side native lost his baby brother to gun violence in June 2022.
In a powerful address, he put the blame on the “decriminalization of offenses,” progressive Cook County prosecutors “who refuse to prosecute,” and the city’s “no-chase policy” for cops.
“These officials have recklessly ignored the people they were elected to represent and as a result, bodies — mostly, Black bodies — are littered throughout the streets of Chicago,” he told lawmakers.