A CBS News Chicago reporter and photographer were attacked near the Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon while preparing for a live shot. The crew escaped unharmed, but their news van and camera were damaged in the confrontation.
The incident unfolded just before 4:30 p.m. on the 900 block of East Solidarity Drive, when three men in a white tow truck approached the CBS team. Two witnesses who were visiting Chicago said the truck parked directly in front of the news van, setting off a sudden and aggressive confrontation.
According to the witnesses, a white or Hispanic man with a dog got out first and moved aggressively toward the crew while shouting racial slurs at one of the journalists. One witness said the behavior appeared designed to intimidate the team, while another said the dog was ordered to attack, though it did not.
Damage To The CBS Chicago Van
| What Happened | Target | Result |
|---|---|---|
| One man smashed equipment | Photographer’s camera | Camera was damaged |
| Another man used a traffic cone | News truck windshield | Windshield was smashed |
Witnesses said the scene escalated when one crew member defended himself from the dog, which led the other two men in the tow truck to jump out. They were then seen breaking the camera and damaging the truck before leaving the area.
Chicago police said the crew was not harmed, and a CBS spokesperson said the company was “shocked and horrified by this crime” and grateful that its journalists were safe. The incident was later followed by another attack involving the same tow truck, according to police.
CPD said officers received reports that the same vehicle was involved in an incident near 42nd and Western in Brighton Park, where occupants were reportedly pointing a gun at people on the sidewalk. Police later caught up with the truck, which sped off before crashing into a squad car.
After the crash, all three occupants jumped out and were arrested, and police recovered a gun from the tow truck. Authorities said the gun was not pointed at the CBS crew.
The investigation remains ongoing, and charges are pending as police continue to sort out the full sequence of events. The episode left witnesses shaken by how quickly the confrontation turned destructive and then escalated again elsewhere in the city.