Panhandler Slaps Golf-Cart Riding Property Manager

Downers Grove police are searching for a man who slapped a property manager when she tried to move his group away from panhandling in front of an apartment complex, reports said.

The property manager told police she was informed of two adults and three young children were asking for money at the entrance of the apartment complex in the 2800 block of Easton Street around 1:20 p.m. May 27.

According to the report, she rode a golf cart to the entrance where she encountered a group of two adults and three children. The adult male held a cardboard sign that said “Please Help.”

The manager told police that she politely asked the group to leave. A boy of about ten years old began apologizing, and the man mumbled something “unintelligible,” reports said.

Police said the man reached out and slapped the manager on the side of her face with an open hand.

He tried to strike her a second time, reports said, but she managed to escape by speeding away on the golf cart.

The manager described the man as being of Middle Eastern descent, in his mid-30s, slim build, and wearing blue jeans and a white shirt with unknown emblem across the chest, police said.

Officers searched the area but could not find the man or his group.

Police spoke with a witness over the phone who said he was in his car behind the manager, and that man slapped the property manager with no provocation.