Family of Schaumburg clubbing victim distraught

Like every other night after a long shift at an Elgin gas station, Rajesh Thakkar stopped Monday night to check his mailbox on his way up to his second-floor apartment in Schaumburg.

But that night, Thakkar's life was shattered. A 15-year-old girl who lives in the same building on the 100 block of Pickwick Drive smashed his skull with a hammer while trying to rob him, police said.

The 58-year-old's slow gait caused by his arthritic knees likely made him an easy target for mugging. And shortly before midnight, his young neighbor took advantage, police said.

After beating him bloody, authorities said, the girl tried to drag Thakkar out the back door of the apartment building toward the man-made pond behind.

Police won't say why she didn't make it; whether the task was too difficult or if she was interrupted.

On Friday night, Thakkar was still unconscious and battling for his life at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. He has had surgeries to his brain and eye.

His accused attacker, meanwhile, is in custody at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, facing charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery.

Thakkar's bewildered family is searching to understand why this gentle man, who never had a problem with anyone, was brutalized in this manner.

"Why did this happen to a guy like this ... he's such a good man," said Bhupendra Thakkar, the victim's brother-in-law and an assistant manager at a Schaumburg Speedway.

One neighbor said she heard Thakkar moaning in agony but dismissed it as possibly a drunk getting sick outside.

Thakkar's cries drew no assistance from the only other witness to the crime -- the girl's 18-year-old sister. Latifah Johnson attempted to clean up the blood that spattered on the walls, floor and door of the rear hallway before police or paramedics got there, authorities said.

Johnson is now charged with obstruction of justice for her attempt at a cover-up. The 15-year-old is expected to be in court on Tuesday, April 6. Johnson is next expected in court April 21.

It's unclear how Thakkar escaped his assailant and eventually made his way up the stairs. Neighbors heard him banging the door of his apartment with muffled cries for help to his wife inside.

Police would not say whether Thakkar was conscious when they arrived, but only that the crime was no longer in progress.

"It was robbery that appears to be her (15-year-old's) motive," Schaumburg Police Chief Brian Howerton said, adding they don't believe Johnson took any direct part in the attack.

Neighbors, who say they are shocked by the violence in a previously peaceful apartment complex, continue to wonder whether Thakkar was a random victim and if it could have happened to any of them.

Girish Shah, who has known the Thakkars for more than a decade and lives in the same complex, said there have been no problems in the 10 years he has lived there.

"I live in tension that tomorrow it could happen to me," he said. "Even I'm afraid at night ... I'm afraid to even go home."

Neighbors knew very little about Johnson and her younger sister, other than that they live with their mother and her two younger children. The mother's boyfriend is also a regular presence in the building, neighbors said.

The girls' mother declined to come to the door Friday.

Thakkar's wife, Gita, was too anguished to comment Friday as she waited for word of her husband's recovery at the hospital, where she has been holding vigil since the attack.

Thakkar has three sisters and a brother who also live in the area, and other family members who are anxiously awaiting some positive news.

Friday night they visited his bedside at the surgical intensive care unit in pairs before rejoining family and friends in the waiting room.

Thakkar's daughter in California flew in to be with her parents. A son who lives in India is on his way. The family is from the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, India, but much of the family has been in the Schaumburg area for about a decade.

Bhupendra Thakkar, who was called by Gita shortly after the attack, said he has been taking care of the medical arrangements, along with Thakkar's brother, Vijay Thakkar of Schaumburg.

Doctors have said it will be a couple of days before they know whether Thakkar will come out of his coma, Bhupendra Thakkar said.