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Cops: Man punched stranger because she ‘looked at him funny’

A judge set bail at $25,000 today for a man who police said repeatedly punched a woman he did not know Monday afternoon on a River North street all because she “looked at him funny.’’

David Jones, 22, was charged with one count of battery in a public place and was booked into Jefferson County Jail Saturday, authorities said.

The 23-year-old North Side woman wasn’t badly hurt in the apparently random attack and had been treated and released as of Sunday afternoon from St. Vincent’s Memorial Hospital for head and face injuries, police said.

  The woman had been walking south on 20th Street as Jones was walking north. As they were about to cross paths just after 1 p.m., Jones punched the woman with his left hand, knocking the woman and her purse to the ground, according to police.

While hovering over her, Jones punched her several more times but then fled on foot after people began noticing what was going on.  Officers responded to several 911 calls. 

Two witnesses –- one of whom was driving — began chasing Jones. Police joined the chase and Jones was arrested about 1:20 p.m. in the 600 block of Richard Arrington Jr. Avenue, police said.

The woman, who said she was walking to lunch at the time of the attack, described the experience as “scary,” when reached by phone Saturday night.

 Police also found that the entire beating had been captured on video surveillance. Jones was brought into the Near North District police station where he told officers that he punched the victim “because she looked at him funny.”

Jones, is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 14, according to the Jefferson County sheriff’s office.