Lenard Clark began his rehabilitation Monday with a few halting steps while Chicago police refused to rule out the possibility of more charges in his beating, which investigators say was racially motivated.
The 13-year-old, still comatose, was moved from his bed to a wheelchair at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago for three 50-minute therapy sessions, institute spokeswoman Kathleen Burch said.
At one point, “with therapists holding each arm, he took a few steps,” Burch said, though she added that his walking appeared to be an automatic response.
Though he is unable to eat and breathe on his own as a result of head injuries suffered in the March 14 beating in Armour Square, Burch said that “Lenard is still emerging from the coma.”
Meanwhile, responding to department critics who said there were more people involved in the attack than the three white teenagers who have been charged, police said they continued to gather evidence that could result in more arrests.
“We never rule out additional arrests if there is evidence to substantiate it,” police spokesman Patrick Camden said. “The bottom line is that we’ve made three arrests, and we’re not ruling out the possibility of others being charged.”
Camden spoke in response to the assertions of Pat Hill, a Chicago police officer and frequent critic of the department, who said there were at least three other Bridgeport youths involved in the beating of Clark, who is black.
“There were approximately six attackers,” she said at a City Hall news conference to announce the formation of an anti-racist group. “Only three have been arrested but, on the street, it’s definitely assured and there are witnesses that there were at least six attackers.”
Hill also said there were “at least two others” who suffered injuries in the attack.
“In talking to the parents of at least one of them, he is really incurring some psychological trauma at this point, and he felt as though he wasn’t protected,” said Hill, flanked by about 10 other community activists who are core members of the group that grew out of the beating.
Police said initially that Clark was accompanied by two friends when he was attacked on his bicycle after playing basketball at Armour Square Park. The three teens charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and two counts of hate crimes are Frank Caruso, 18, Victor Jasas, 17, and Michael Kwidzinski, 19.
Clark suffered brain injuries in the beating, during which police said his head was smashed against a wall by his attackers. His mother, Wanda McMurray, has been ushering through a string of visitors that included Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jackson had visited Clark at Cook County Hospital before the boy’s transfer Friday to the Rehabilitation Institute.
Clark moaned and turned away when Jackson came and prayed over him, Burch said. In another sign considered positive for his recovery, Clark tried to remove a feeding tube running through his left nostril, Burch said.
“He had quite a bit of movement today,” said one of his visitors, Rev. Martini Shaw, rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. “It’s a big difference to see him today than last week.”
