Residents of Chicago's Lakeview community fight to keep 2 men off streets after repeated attacks

Some people living in Chicago's Lakeview community have launched a very public push to keep two men off the street, after they have repeatedly attacked victims on the street.

Residents say the repeat offenders make the neighborhood unsafe given the randomness of their attacks.

An online petition calling on the local alderpeople, the commander of Chicago Police Department's Town Hall (19th) District, and the Cook County State's Attorney to crack down on the two "serial offenders" had received more than 3,700 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

Neighbors say the men, Willie Wright and Leon Jackson, attack random strangers. But the sheer number of times the two men have been spotted doing something wrong has made them anything but strangers to people in the East Lakeview area.

"The biggest concern is just the pattern of violence," said Jenna Klotz, the victim of an attack.

The pattern is traceable online, with stories shared on the growing online petition.

My friend was physically assaulted by this man and the trauma caused her so much emotional and physical distress that she quit her job and moved out of the city," comment read.

Though Wright and Jackson's histories are not identical, neighbors identified them both as people who need help.

"I was simply walking home from the gym one day, just in the middle of the afternoon, happened to pass [Jackson] on the street. We had no engagement between each other. I'd never had any words from him before, never spoke to him at all," said Klotz, "and out of nowhere, he just reached over and hit me in the head."

Jackson was seen going into a nearby smoke shop after the attack. Meanwhile, within moments, Klotz said neighbors named Jackson and posted a photo of him.

"I realized this wasn't someone who had a bad day, or something had happened that day," Klotz said. "This was a repeated pattern that other neighbors were experiencing."

Jackson was later charged with battery — a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 250 days in the Cook County Department of Corrections system, and Klotz said she saw him back on the street in March.

Court records reveal he was subsequently arrested for throwing a rock at people, and later for punching someone else. After that, he was held in jail.

"As we were talking about the potential for a plea deal, I said like, I was hoping for him to be provided, if necessary, like if he needed mental health services, were there other supports that could be provided for him when he was released?" said Klotz.

Klotz said the answers she received were disappointing.

"The answer that I got was simply, like, the court system wasn't really designed for, you know, those type of things, and so unfortunately, they weren't able to provide any of those things that I'd asked about," she said.

As for Wright, neighbors said they still see him around. Wright is a convicted felon who also has a history of pushing and punching victims on the street.

Wright has no pending cases. He was released from custody after pleading guilty and serving time for felony battery to a police officer last year.

"My ultimate goal is to stop that from happening ever again," said Amber Davidson, who launched the online petition. "There's no reason these people should be on the streets when they have very long rap sheets for violent offenses."

Klotz also said the men being repeatedly released and allowed out on the street is not acceptable.

"When it happens repeatedly, the question becomes, what do we do then to have this, you know, not continue to happen? What do we do to ensure like residents can safely walk through their neighborhood without fear?" Klotz said. "And right now, I don't have the answer, but I know that this continues to happen. So what we're doing right now is not working, and so we need something to change."

The Cook County State's Attorney's office said is committed to asking for detention in violent felony cases, but that does not necessarily include the charges against Jackson and Wright — many of which are misdemeanors.

CBS News Chicago has also reached out to Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) and Ald. Angela Clay (46th), who represent the wards where the men have been cited. There had not been a response as of Tuesday afternoon.

Meantime, neighbors said they will keep showing up to Jackson's court dates to show their support for him remaining in custody pretrial.