Man charged in February attack on Ald. Reilly outside bar

A 35-year-old man has been charged in an attack last month on Ald. Brendan Reilly outside a bar in his downtown ward, authorities said.

Antonio Palazzi, who was suspected of punching the 42nd Ward alderman outside Boss Bar, a popular River North tavern at Clark and Hubbard streets, was arrested Thursday night, Chicago police said. Palazzi has been charged with misdemeanor battery, according to Cook County court records.

Reilly has said he was waiting outside the bar for friends to settle their tab at around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 18 when a man approached him.

“Out of nowhere this guy ran up on me. He was yelling at me,” Reilly said in the days after the incident. “I didn’t understand what he was saying. His pupils were dilated. He was enraged, and before I know it, he’s on top of me, punching me in the face.”

Reilly said he grabbed the man to get him to stop throwing punches, when a second man started kicking him in the head. Within seconds, Reilly said a security guard from the bar rushed over and pulled the attackers off him.

Reilly said the two men ran to an idling car and sped away. They didn’t attempt to rob him, he said.

“I had never seen these people before in my life,” he said. “They had not been in the establishment. I had no prior contact with these folks. I don’t know if it was mistaken identity or something. It was completely random. And I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing.”

The alderman said he didn’t call police. “I didn’t require medical attention. It was a split-second incident,” he said. “So I didn’t think it required that 911 call, because I didn’t need to get any help and these guys were gone.”

City code, however, requires liquor license holders “to report promptly to the police department all illegal activity reported to or observed by the licensee on or within sight of the licensed premises.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was “deeply concerned” about the incident, and directed Chicago police and the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to conduct a full investigation of the attack. Business Affairs and Consumer Protection reviews whether liquor establishments committed any infractions.

Palazzi could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither police nor the Cook County state’s attorney’s office could provide more information about the case, but police said he is due to appear in court March 31.