Veteran Sees Chicago Thugs Manhandling His Girlfriend – It Didn’t End Well For The Wannabe Robbers
Two men, ages 19 and 22, have been charged in the knife-point robbery of a British tourist near Oak Street Beach in the Gold Coast neighborhood Saturday night, officials said.
Noe Mondragon, 22, and Luis Salgado-Camargo, 18, both of Chicago, have been identified as two of the three people who robbed the 27-year-old man and a 26-year-old female, officials said.
The victim, Neil McCarthy, was stabbed in the shoulder during the robbery. McCarthy and his girlfriend came from Minneapolis for a weekend getaway.
The couple were walking around 11:50 p.m. near the underground tunnel in the 1100-block of Lake Shore Drive when they saw three guys
“They came over, kind of jovially, and said, ‘Hey, how’s it going? Do you want to give me some money,'” McCarthy said. “To which we responded, ‘Not ideally.'”
Neil McCarthy, 27, and Carisa Lerner, 26, traveled from Minnesota to Chicago for a quick weekend getaway. The couple was visiting Chicago’s lakefront for the first time and enjoying a great evening when they saw three men approaching.
At that moment, one of the men pulled out a knife and demanded McCarthy’s wallet and phone. McCarthy thought he had satisfied the muggers after handing over what they wanted, but one of the men started to “search” Lerner, which McCarthy wasn’t about to let happen. “While the guy was going through my stuff I looked around and another guy was manhandling my girlfriend — that’s when I lost it,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy is a London native who attends the University of Minnesota as a graduate student of security technologies. Previously, he was a Senior Aircraftman in the Royal Air Force and served in Afghanistan. Although the veteran was able to get the man off of his girlfriend, he was stabbed in the shoulder as he put the knife-wielding man into a headlock. “I knew I’d been stabbed. It didn’t hurt. It felt like a punch,” he said.
Ignoring his wounds, McCarthy gained control of the situation by grabbing the knife by its blade. “He reached back and stabs,” McCarthy said. “The other two guys are punching me in the head, and I manage to get the knife by grabbing the blade, which is not a great move when you’re being stabbed. But at that point, I had the knife. I was in control, basically. I just started defending myself with a knife.”
After McCarthy managed to stab one of the muggers, they showed their true colors and ran like cowards, but it wouldn’t be the last they saw of the veteran. Police arrived moments later and medical staff tended to McCarthy’s wound. “A guy cycling past had called the police and when they arrived I was the one holding the bloody dripping knife, so I just put my hands up,” he said.
The offenders then ran away with several items including the victims’ cell phone, wallet, credit cards and passport. The female victim was not injured.
After getting patched up by the medics, McCarthy used the Find My iPhone app to track his phone, which was only 100ft away. It led him straight to one of the attackers. McCarthy sprinted after the man and caught him, then dragged him back to the police. “He literally jumped on him, dragged him up to the pathway, put his arms around his back, then the cops drive up really fast, cuff him, and put him in,” Lerner said.
Mondragon faces one count of felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of felony armed robbery. Salgado-Camargo is charged with two counts of armed robbery.
The two men are scheduled to appear in bond court Monday.
Alex D is a conservative journalist, who covers all issues of importance for conservatives. He writes for Conservative US, Red State Nation, Defiant America, and Supreme Insider. He brings attention and insight from what happens in the White House to the streets of American towns, because it all has an impact on our future, and the country left for our children. Exposing the truth is his ultimate goal, mixed with wit where it’s appropriate, and feels that journalism shouldn’t be censored. Join him & let’s spread the good word!
