A South Side man accused of hitting a woman in the head with a log so hard she remained unresponsive in a Chicago hospital is facing charges of aggravated battery, according to authorities.
Bruce Diamond, 52, of Chicago’s Grand Boulevard neighborhood, is accused of throwing a “white wooden tree log” he had reportedly taken from a nearby Starbucks at a woman in the 600 block of North Michigan Avenue around 2:10 p.m. Monday, court records show.
According to an order to detain Diamond from Judge Ankur Strivastava, the woman remained unresponsive with extensive brain injuries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was being treated in the intensive care unit.
According to the petition for pretrial detention, Diamond allegedly “launched the log in a javelin-like manner” at the woman, an airline employee visiting Chicago, while she and a colleague walked in his direction.
The blow struck her unconscious and caused her to bleed from both the nose and ears. The petition also states that Diamond continued walking after he hit the woman.
Strivastava’s pretrial detention order describes the attack as “both brutal and senseless,” stating that Diamond did not know the victim and appeared to throw the log at her at random.
Diamond has had 21 criminal convictions in Ohio since 2011, according to the pretrial detention order.
Diamond is due to next appear in court on Monday, records show.