CHICAGO -- A World Gym owner says a 67-year-old man who was beaten up in his Chicago club last month is fine now.
Chicago police say that on Nov. 9, two ironworkers repeatedly punched and kicked the man at the club, according to local media reports. The ironworkers, Paul Velez, 29, and Todd Krasnow, 33, were later arrested and identified in a police lineup as the attackers. They were charged with two counts of aggravated battery.
Prosecutors told local media that prior to the attack, Krasnow was lifting weights when the older man was leaning on a piece of equipment involved in Krasnow’s workout. Velez then began attacking the older man, and Krasnow joined in. The victim told police he was having an “ongoing ordeal” with the two men, who work out daily at the club.
The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition with multiple contusions to the head and torso, a hemorrhage, and internal injuries, according to a police report.
The World Gym owner, who requested not to be identified, has not seen the victim back at the club and says the two men who were charged were “out on the street,” although he did not say whether they were still members of the club.
“The guy that was injured was in phenomenal shape,” the owner says. “Exactly what triggered the altercation, I don’t know.”
The owner, who was out of town when the incident occurred, said this was the first such incident at the club since it opened in 1992.