A school district staff member was punched in the face outside the district’s administrative offices in Park Ridge after confronting a man who was stealing a catalytic converter from a vehicle, school and police officials said.
The incident occurred after 7 a.m. on Jan. 21 at the Maine Township High School District 207 administration building at 1177 S. Dee Road, police said.
According to police, the employee reported that he saw a man underneath a Land Rover in the parking lot and believed he was attempting to steal the vehicle’s catalytic converter. When the employee reportedly came out to take photos of what was occurring, the suspect emerged from under the vehicle with an electric saw and “approached the victim in an aggressive manner,” police said.
When the employee backed away, the man returned to the vehicle and continued cutting the catalytic converter with the saw, according to police.
When the suspect was again confronted by the employee, he emerged a second time and punched the employee in the face, police said.
The man, whose approximate age is unknown, fled the area in a black or dark gray Chevy Malibu that was driven by another person, police reported.
Two catalytic converters were reported stolen from the Land Rover, police said.
Maine Township High School District 207 Spokesman Brett Clark said the district employee sustained minor injuries to his face in the attack.
The incident is similar to one reported less than two weeks earlier outside a Park Ridge office center.
On the morning of Jan. 13, police said an employee of a building at 1460 Renaissance Drive had a gun pulled on him when he confronted two men he believed were trying to steal the catalytic converter off a van in the parking lot.
Park Ridge police have urged the public not to confront anyone of suspected criminal behavior and to immediately report any crimes or suspicious incidents to police by calling 911.
