Man charged with fighting guards, damaging property at Trump Tower

Craig Echols is charged with vandalizing the Trump Tower lobby and attacking security guards

A man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly fighting security guards and damaging property Friday afternoon in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel & Tower on the Near North Side.

Craig Echols, 23, was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer, criminal damage to property and aggravated battery to a victim over the age of 60, according to Chicago police.

About 4:15 p.m., Echols used a permanent marker to scrawl on a couch and several pillars in the lobby of the luxury hotel and condominium building at 401 N. Wabash Ave., police said. Echols then attacked two security guards.

One guard, a 61-year-old man, suffered injuries to his face, knee and hand, police said. A 26-year-old man working with him was uninjured.

Additional guards helped detain Echols until officers arrived and arrested him, police said.

Echols, of the West Side Austin neighborhood, was ordered held on $1,000 bail during a hearing Sunday before Judge Stephanie K. Miller, according to police and Cook County court records.

His next court date was set for March 22.

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