Man strangles 8 year old girl in the bathroom of a restaurant, tries to molest her

An 8 year old girl went to the restroom by herself in Jason’s Deli, located in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood.  That’s when a 33 year old man named Reese M. Hartstirn grabbed her and strangled her until she passed out.

The Chicago Tribune has the horrifying details:

He then picked up the unconscious girl and carried her into a bathroom stall, closing the door so she couldn’t leave, according to the release.  Hartstirn pushed the girl’s mother when she came into the stall to rescue her daughter, police said.

Apparently, deli customers joined together to detain him while the police arrived.

Jason’s Deli released this statement:

We’re blessed to have a wonderful relationship with the Chicago Police Department. Many of them are our customers and because of their connection to our deli, this unfortunate situation was handled very quickly. We’re proud of how our team members responded and thankful that we have the kind of customers that are willing to lend a hand in a difficult situation. We continue to work hard every day to make every customer happy.

The details of the girl’s condition have not been released.

In related news, Target has said it will not back down from its new policy that endangers customers by giving sexual predators easy access to unsuspecting victims in their stores’ bathrooms. And the Obama administration issued a letter demanding the same policy be implemented in schools across the nation.