(PatriotPostNews.com) – Ernie Aimone, an eighty-one-year-old veteran, was assaulted during a carjacking in Chicago on April 10th.
The carjackers punched the elderly man in the face, but rather than attempt to fight back, Aimone lay on the ground and feigned being unconscious. This quick thinking may have saved his life. The teenage carjackers made off with the veteran’s 2015 Hyundai Sante Fe. Aimone sustained minor injuries.
Aimone was delivering pizza when the attack occurred. Aimone is seen as a fixture of his community, having delivered pizzas for the last 40 years. Aimone’s boss, Frank Demonte, explained that after the incident, Aimone was more concerned about getting the prepared food to his community than he was about his own safety. Aimone’s boss said that when Aimone called him to report the attack, he immediately mentioned that the food he was trying to deliver was still in his stolen vehicle.
His daughter, Robyn, said that he felt embarrassed immediately after the attack. He wished he had been able to fight back. Robyn described her father as her hero because he survived to “come home.”
Police were able to follow the carjackers, who refused to pull over. The subsequent car chase ended after the carjackers crashed Aimone’s vehicle. One suspect, reportedly only 15 years old, was arrested.
A GoFundMe was set up by the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce, not just to pay for a new vehicle, but as a show of support from the community. President of the Gladstone Chamber, Dan Coilino, described Aimone as a “local legend.” GoFundMe has raised over $60,000.
Violent crime against the elderly has been on the rise across the country. In February 2024, an elderly woman was carjacked at knifepoint at a Walmart in Baltimore, Maryland. A month before that, a 77-year-old man was beaten and carjacked, also in Baltimore.
Detective Nina Hummel of Tennessee’s Knox County outlined that elder abuse in the county increased from 1,000 cases in 2021 to 1,600 in 2023.
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