Wannabe thief accused of holding woman's head underwater in mall koi pond

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Kozhasbay, D. (2026, October 15). Wannabe thief accused of holding woman's head underwater in mall koi pond. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16212291/Wannabe-thief-accused-holding-womans-head-underwater-mall-koi-pond.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-15 · by Dariya Kozhasbay
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

William Dobbs, 35, was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery after allegedly stealing a woman’s purse and pushing her head underwater in a koi pond at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois. The incident occurred near the Bath & Body Works store when bystanders intervened to save the victim from drowning. She sustained serious injuries including a concussion and fractured vertebrae. Dobbs is currently being held without bail at the Cook County Department of Corrections pending his next court appearance on November 6.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-15, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Summary unavailable.

Written for “Mall Koi Pond Robbery Attempt” on 2026-10-15, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mall Koi Pond Robbery Attempt
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
40%
6 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 5707 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Dariya Kozhasbay
39 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 William Dobbs, 35, was arrested after he tried to steal a woman's purse and then pushed her head into a koi pond at the north end of Westfield Old Orchard Mall, according to a Skokie Police Department news release.
🔮 The bill stated that 'a single moment of eroticism could condemn an entire performance to criminal or civil penalties,' according to United States District Court documents provided by ACLUTX.
🔮 In terms of retirement, less than half (45 percent) of today's working force is expected to have enough money to leave comfortably after they retire, according to Gallup.
🔮 All of the aforementioned rollercoasters including the one that claimed Kariem's life were manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc., often abbreviated to B&M. A man was thrown to his death by a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday, prompting theme parks across the US and Canada to close their rides as a precaution Hassan Kariem, 42, was an IT specialist in the Atlanta public school system and a father of two Both versions of the Six Flags Goliath roller coaster have been shut down after Hassan Kariem's death at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday B&M is a roller coaster manufacturing company based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company has manufactured a plethora of roller coasters in the United States, including several which will remain in operation despite Monday's events.
🔮 Foy was previously convicted on conspiracy charges for teaming up with his cousin to murder his cousin's brother-in-law in 1994, and slashing his uncle William Richardson in the face in 2014, court records showed.
🔮 'They loved each other so much—inseparable in every moment, a devotion granted from above for reasons only heaven would know.
🔮 Holly Thomas, owner of Holly's Sweet Treats in Hutchinson, Kansas, took to her Facebook page last Thursday to share why she will never vote for Roger Marshall's re-election for Senate.
🔮 At first, residents in the room stood as they normally would, before Dalbey started mentioning prayers to the 'dark father' and ending his introduction with 'hail satan.
🔮 'Due to the extremely challenging nature of the terrain between Brian’s location and the nearest landing zone, it was determined that there would be insufficient time to safely complete the recovery that evening,' the agency wrote.
🔮 Addison will perform as Sandy in the musical Annie at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres in Minnesota from October to February '[Addison] doesn’t like to do warm-up exercises sometimes because she’s done this role a thousand times, she’s such a pro,' animal handler Landon Tate Boyle, right, told the Minnesota Star Tribune Addison has a natural affinity for acting, according to animal handler Landon Tate Boyle 'She doesn’t like to do warm-up exercises sometimes because she’s done this role a thousand times, she’s such a pro,' he told the outlet.
Also by Dariya Kozhasbay
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 39 articles by Dariya Kozhasbay →

Topics

Bath & Body Works CBS News Chicago Illinois Skokie Police Department

Subjects

Dobbs PERSON · 7× Illinois GPE · 2× Bath & Body Works ORG · 1× CBS News ORG · 1× Chicago GPE · 1× Skokie GPE · 1× Skokie Police Department ORG · 1× William Dobbs PERSON · 1× Williams Dobbs PERSON · 1× the Chicago Tribune ORG · 1×

Narrative

The two crossed paths near the koi pond outside of Bath & Body Works, which is when Dobbs struck the woman 'unprovoked with a saddle-type bag and ultimately pushed her into the pond,' police said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15
🔮 William Dobbs, 35, was arrested after he tried to steal a woman's purse and then pushed her head into a koi pond at the north end of Westfield Old Orchard Mall, according to a Skokie Police Department news release.

Claims (15 extracted, 6 hedged)

A man in Illinois was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery after he allegedly held a woman's head underwater in a pond at a mall in the suburbs of Chicago. uncertain
he → charge → Chicago
William Dobbs, 35, was arrested after he tried to steal a woman's purse and then pushed her head into a koi pond at the north end of Westfield Old Orchard Mall, according to a Skokie Police Department news release. uncertain
he → arrest → release
Dobbs and the victim did not know each other, police said. asserted
police → know → other
The two crossed paths near the koi pond outside of Bath & Body Works, which is when Dobbs struck the woman 'unprovoked with a saddle-type bag and ultimately pushed her into the pond,' police said. asserted
police → cross → pond
Mall bystanders intervened and tore Dobbs away from the victim, police said. asserted
police → intervene → victim
'We thought he was just swimming by himself until we came closer and saw a woman underneath the water,' a witness told CBS News. asserted
witness → think → News
Initial bystander reports claimed that Dobbs was armed with a handgun, but police did not find a gun on the suspect. asserted
police → claim → suspect
The woman suffered a concussion, fractured vertebrae and bruising to her left eye and arm according to court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune. uncertain
woman → suffer → Tribune
Williams Dobbs, 35, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery after he tried to rob a woman and pushed her head underwater in a mall pond The attack occurred at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois earlier this week Dobbs is charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery to a senior citizen, and one count of aggravated battery with great bodily harm, according to the Cook County State's Attorney. Westfield Old Orchard Mall said in a statement: 'The safety and well-being of our visitors, retailers and employees remain our top priority.' uncertain
safety → arrest → visitors
The statement said the mall is cooperating with investigators. asserted
mall → say → investigators
Dobbs appeared at the Skokie Courthouse on Wednesday, and his next court date is November 6. asserted
date → appear → Wednesday
He is being held at the Cook County Department of Corrections without bail, according to jail records. uncertain
He → hold → records
It is unclear if Dobbs has retained an attorney. uncertain
Dobbs → retain → attorney
The Cook County Public Defender's office did not immediately respond to messages. asserted
office → respond → messages
The Daily Mail has reached out to Cook County Court for additional information. asserted
Mail → reach → information
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support