A 35-year-old man faces attempted-murder and aggravated-battery charges after Skokie police say he struck a senior citizen, pushed her into a koi pond at Westfield Old Orchard Mall and held her head underwater. Police identified the suspect as William Dobbs and announced the charges Wednesday, Oct. 14. He was scheduled to appear in court at the Skokie Courthouse that day. The investigation remains ongoing. The incident happened shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday at the mall in Skokie. According to police, Dobbs and the woman did not know each other and encountered one another while walking near the mall’s north end. Police allege he hit her with a saddle-style bag before pushing her into the pond and holding her underwater. Witnesses intervened and separated the two before officers arrived. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries police described as non-life-threatening. The incident was initially treated as an attempted robbery, with witnesses reporting that the man tried to take the woman’s purse. An early report that Dobbs had a gun was later found to be unfounded, police said. The mall said it was cooperating with Skokie police and that the safety of visitors, retailers and employees was its top priority.