Exchange Student Mugged On Way Home From Bar

said three men jumped a 21-year-old foreign exchange student who is in the United States attending a nearby college on his way home from a bar on March 12.

The student said he was walking home from a tavern through alley between 53rd and Cook Avenues shortly after midnight when a dark colored car with four to five people inside pulled up near him.

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The passengers inside the car shouted something but the student could not understand what they were saying. The occupants of the car appeared to be Hispanic or Arabic males, and another was a black male.

As the student walked through the alley he saw two men that he thinks were in the car, walking toward him. When he turned around, he saw another man approaching him from behind.

Police said as the men drew near the student, he greeted them. The men responded back but the student didn’t understand them. One of the men threw a punch. The student, who said he is a trained boxer, ducked the punch and was able to land several punches of his own before he was knocked to the ground.

The assailants kicked and punched him a few times. When the student got to his feet, his assailants ran away. Police said the student tried chasing them, but couldn’t catch them.

On his way home after the adrenaline wore off, the student noticed that his ankle was injured. Police said he wasn’t able to put any weight on his foot and that his ankle was swollen. His hand and knuckles were also scraped and bloody. Police called for an ambulance.

The student did not remember his assailants demanding his property or insulting them. He still had his wallet and watch, but not his cell phone.

Police said the student did not recall the men removing his cell phone from his pocket, but think it may have fallen out during the fight and that one of the assailants grabbed it.

While the student had been drinking with friends at the bar, police said he was not intoxicated.