A man who listed his address as a homeless shelter has been charged with stabbing a 67-year-old man who was dining with his family at a restaurant on North Michigan Avenue, police said.
Jimmy Harris, 56, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with intent to do great bodily harm and aggravated unlawful restraint, police said.
Harris is accused of attacking Mir Jafar Shah, of Oak Brook, in the restroom of a restaurant in the Westin Hotel around 8 p.m. Saturday officials said.
A second man, reportedly a bartender, was cut trying to stop Harris from fleeing, police said. Harris was arrested near the hotel and a knife recovered, police said.
Shah was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. His family said in a statement that he was expected to make a full recovery. The man who chased Harris was also taken to Northwestern, in good condition, police said.
According to Shah's niece, Jameela Ali, 28, of Lincoln Park, she and her uncle were part of a group of seven dining in a restaurant inside the Westin while downtown for the Festival of Lights. She heard a commotion inside a restoom, then saw her uncle, badly injured, struggling with another man outside the restroom.
"His left eye was bruised, totally swollen shut," Ali said. "There was blood gushing from his neck, blood all over his clothes. He looked like he had been punched in the face several times. I started screaming. I didn't know what to do."
Ali said he suffered a laceration to his external jugular vein and received exploratory surgery to ensure there was no further damage.
Olivia Morrow, 18, said she and her friend were returning to the hotel around 8 p.m. to meet their parents when they saw police on the scene.
Morrow said shortly after that she saw about five hotel officials running out of the building toward the stairs leading to the Hancock Tower and the neighboring The Cheesecake Factory Restaurant.
"They had radios and phones in their hands, saying that (the attacker) was last seen running down the stairs," Morrow said.
Genevieve Waldron of Michigan City, Ind., was among the crowd waiting for a table outside when she and her mother saw dozens of officers sprinting toward the restaurant from every direction.
"They were obviously looking for somebody and we were trying to stay out of the way," Waldron said.
A few minutes later, two officers came back up the stairs, flanking a man who was handcuffed, and loaded him into the back of a marked car.
Tribune reporter Liam Ford contributed.
cdrhodes@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
Chicago man charged in stabbing at Michigan Avenue hotel
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Chicago man charged in stabbing at Michigan Avenue hotel
