A 67-year-old man was stabbed in the neck Saturday evening near the front of the Westin Hotel on North Michigan Avenue, and a second man was cut trying to stop the assailant from fleeing, authorities and witnesses said.
The incident began shortly before 8 p.m. when the 67-year-old man was stabbed during an attempted robbery, Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said, citing preliminary information.
A 35-year-old man was cut in the chest as he tried to stop the assailant from fleeing, Greer said.
Police took a 56-year-old man into custody following the incident. A weapon was also recovered, Greer said.
The 67-year-old was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, Greer said. The 35-year-old was taken to Northwestern in good condition.
By 8:30 p.m., crime scene tape surrounded the entrance to the Westin Hotel on Delaware Street and Michigan Avenue with patches of blood visible on the pavement, and two police cars blocked the street.
Mangers at the Westin declined to comment late Saturday and early Sunday.
Olivia Morrow, 18, said she and her friend were returning to the hotel around 8 p.m. to meet their parents when they saw police on the scene.
Morrow said shortly after that she saw about five hotel officials running out of the building toward the stairs leading to the Hancock Tower and neighboring The Cheesecake Factory Restaurant.
"They had radios and phones in their hands, saying that (the attacker) was last seen running down the stairs," Morrow said.
Genevieve Waldron of Michigan City, Ind., was among the crowd waiting for a table outside when she and her mother saw dozens of officers sprinting toward the restaurant from every direction.
"They were obviously looking for somebody and we were trying to stay out of the way," Waldron said.
A few minutes later, two officers came back up the stairs, flanking a young man who was handcuffed, and loaded him into the back of a marked car.
Neither The Cheesecake Factory nor the hotel were evacuated, as guests on the south-facing side of the building peered out of the windows to get a view of the scene. There appeared to be little commotion at the restaurant, where diners poured out into the hallways waiting for a table.
Tribune reporter Liam Ford contributed.
cdrhodes@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
2 hurt in stabbing at North Michigan Avenue hotel
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2 hurt in stabbing at North Michigan Avenue hotel
