CHICAGO (CBS) — A suspect has been arrested and charged in the carjacking and brutal beating of a chef in Chinatown, family confirmed.
At a news conference Friday evening, Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said Termaine Patterson, 18, had been charged with multiple counts – including attempted murder, aggravated battery to a victim who is 60 or older, robbery, and aggravated vehicular hijacking.
A juvenile was also charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The juvenile was spotted in Lew’s car at one point, but was not believed to have been involved in the attack, Deenihan said.
Chef Jin Lew was heading home after visiting his son in the South Loop on the night of Wednesday, April 6, when he was attacked in Chinatown. A street cleaner found Lew on 25th Place near Princeton Avenue.
Lew was listed in the e hospital as a John Doe until his family was notified. He was in a coma and almost unrecognizable.
Lew had last been seen on surveillance video leaving the lobby of his son’s South Loop apartment building around 11 p.m. the night he was attacked. Cameras also caught him pulling away in his Lexus sport-utility vehicle.
When he didn’t show up for a meeting the next day, Lew was reported missing to police last Friday.
Family said Lew, 61, was later by a street cleaner. He didn’t have his car, his belongings were missing, and he was in need of medical help.
Deenihan said police later learned that four attackers trailed Lew in another carjacked vehicle, and then exited and ran toward Lew’s vehicle. The attackers beat Lew and took his car and all of his belongings, Deenihan said.
This incident was not captured on surveillance camera, Deenihan said.
Detectives worked “countless hours” trying to track both Lew’s car and the other car, and eventually found the cars, Deenihan said. Detectives were able to track where Lew’s car went over the next several days using Lew’s credit card information and other data, Deenihan said.
Police arrested Tremaine on Thursday. Three other attackers remain at large.
“We still have a long way to go,” Deenihan said.
Lew worked as the head chef at Chi Tung Restaurant in Evergreen Park for decades. He appeared in a 2012 episode of the WGN-TV show, “Chicago’s Best.”
Lew’s family said Friday that he is walking, eating, and talking, but still requires 24-hour car and is in a nursing home. They said Lew has had extensive surgeries and rehab at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Streeterville.
The family told CBS 2’s Marybel González they feel like this development is “a weight off their shoulders. It’s been so long they thought they might not find a person.”