Bystanders at an Illinois shopping mall separated a man and a woman during an attack near a pond before officers arrived, according to the Skokie Police Department.
Officers responded to Westfield Old Orchard at 11:01 a.m. on October 13, 2026, after reports of an attempted robbery and battery. People reported that a man had tried to take a woman’s purse and was holding her head underwater in a pond at the north end of the outdoor mall.
The preliminary police account described the two adults as strangers who crossed paths near the pond. In what the department described as an unprovoked attack, the man struck the woman with a saddle-type bag, pushed her into the pond and held her head underwater.
The man was still at the scene when officers arrived, and they detained him after the bystanders had intervened. The woman was taken to an area hospital with injuries police described as non-life-threatening.
A Closer Look
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An unnamed witness interviewed by CBS Chicago described seeing the woman submerged while the man held her in a headlock. “We thought he was just swimming by himself until we came closer and saw a woman underneath the water,” she said.
The initial reports to police also included a claim that the man had a handgun. That report was not substantiated, a correction the department included in its public account of the incident.
After the Water
For submersion emergencies, the American Red Cross explains that drowning injuries result from a lack of oxygen, with the extent of injury tied to how long a person goes without it. Restoring breathing and oxygenation is central to treatment.
Its guidance calls for medical care when someone rescued from the water has excessive or prolonged coughing, fast or difficult breathing, or is not acting normally. It defines drowning by impaired breathing during submersion or immersion, rather than simply being in the water.
CBS’s evening update reported that the man was in custody and charges had not been announced. The investigation was ongoing, and the department asked anyone with information about the incident to call 847-982-5900.
The department also accepts information through its 24-hour Crime Tip Hotline at 847-933-8477. Tips can be sent by texting “Skokie” and the information to 226787.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.