Man pleads guilty in ‘random’ attack on alderman outside River North bar

A 36-year-old man was sentenced to court supervision and 30 hours of community service this week after he admitted he attacked Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) outside a River North bar.

Antonio Palazzi, 36, waived a jury trial and pleaded guilty to single count of battery on Wednesday before Cook County Judge Daniel Gallagher, court records show.

Reilly told the Chicago Sun-Times he was standing outside Boss Bar, 420 N. Clark St., while waiting for friends to close their tab when someone began yelling at him on the street on the night of Feb. 18.

Another man, later identified as Palazzi, then attacked the alderman, swinging at him and kicking him.

“In the meantime, some other guy comes around and starts kicking me,” Reilly recounted. “Within seconds, a security guard from the bar saw this happening through the window and ran out, pulled these guys off of me and they ran away, jumped into a car and sped off.”

Reilly said the attack was over in about 25 seconds and he did not call 911 or report the matter because he didn’t need medical attention.

“I just wanted to go home. … I just didn’t think that warranted police attention on what is typically a busy night in downtown Chicago,” Reilly said.

Palazzi was charged the following month and taken into custody.

The alderman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.