Man charged in Near North Side broom attack

A man has been charged with hitting a woman with a broom Wednesday near Oak Street Beach and punching two people on the Near North Side.

Anthony Armstrong, 39, is charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery causing bodily harm, according to Chicago police.

Armstrong is accused of approaching a woman sitting on a bench about 2 p.m. near the beach in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive and asking for a cigarette, police said. When she refused, he hit her under the arm with the handle of a push broom.

The woman, who had bruising and swelling on the side of her body, declined medical treatment, police said.

Armstrong then went south to the 400 block of North Michigan Avenue, where he walked up behind a 55-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman and punched them both, police said. He hit the man in the head and face and the woman in the head and shoulder.

Bystanders flagged down a police officer who arrested Armstrong, police said.

The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with head trauma and shoulder pain, police said. Her condition had stabilized. The man declined medical treatment.

Armstrong, who lives in Lincoln Park, is due to appear in court Sept. 16 at the Cook County Branch 23 Misdemeanor Courthouse at 5555 W. Grand Ave., police said.

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