Man chokes 8 year old girl unconscious in a restaurant and carries her into the bathroom stall

A woman and her 8-year-old daughter went to Jason's Deli in Chicago for lunch last Saturday at about 1:15 pm and had a very traumatic

experience. According to the mum, her daughter

wanted to use the bathroom and she allowed

her to go alone, a few minutes later, she heard

her daughter scream and she ran into the

bathroom only for her to see a man carrying her

unconscious daughter into a bathroom stall.

She tried to get into the stall to rescue her

daughter but the man kept fighting and pushing

her out of the stall, fortunately the

mother's screams brought employees of the deli

and some customers to the stall and they helped

rescue her daughter. They held the man till the

Police arrived.

According to Chicago police press release, the

mother saw a terrifying scene: "33-year-old

Reese M. Hartstirn carrying the unconscious girl

into a stall".

Police allege that he had choked the 8 year old

girl with his hands until she lost consciousness.

After the mother rescued her daughter, other

customers and employees held Hartstirn until

police arrived.

In a statement Jason's Deli praised their

employees and customers for helping out the

woman and her daughter. The statement read:

"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 girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital

by her mother, but no information has been

released on her condition.

Hartstirn has been charged with felony counts of

aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery

of a child.

After he got arrested and was taken to the

police station, he allegedly started swinging at a

police officer. So they added a misdemeanor

charge to his previous charge. He also faces a

misdemeanor charge of battery and aggravated

assault of a peace officer.

Hartstirn was denied bond on Monday and

remanded to custody.

He is due back in court for a hearing on May 16.