Woman attacked at home after ex-boyfriend mistakenly released from jail: ‘I could have died in that house’
CHICAGO — For more than an hour last Friday, a South Shore woman said she lived in fear of a violent death at the hands of her former boyfriend, who allegedly had forced his way into her apartment, brutally beat her and threatened her life.
The woman said she received a literal lifeline during the afternoon attack as she was punched in the face, beaten with a mop handle and received a broken right hand and nose. Someone from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office called to warn her that the ex-boyfriend — who had been ordered to stay away — hadn’t shown up at a scheduled court hearing that day.
“At the time, I had two thoughts in my mind: I said either I’m going to die or I’m going to get out,” the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told a Tribune reporter in a telephone interview several days after the latest attack. “And I got out,” she said, her voice cracking.
Though badly injured and bleeding from repeated blows to her head, face and mouth, the woman said she played it cool over the phone, pretending to be speaking with someone for a job offer so as not to tip off the angry man. Her short, cryptic responses were enough to trigger the official to send police to her apartment.
The move, she said, likely
