A content creator known online as Decaying Midwest says a man claiming to be security assaulted him while he explored the shuttered Ford City Mall, in an incident he describes as unprovoked and violent. The 28-year-old, who has built an audience of millions documenting abandoned buildings, says the man struck his arm with a piece of metal during a confrontation in the mall's parking lot on Monday.
According to CBS Chicago, the explorer said the trouble began when a man claiming to work security drove an unmarked SUV into his friend, who was riding a scooter nearby. He said the same white SUV then followed him through the parking lot before the man confronted him and struck his arm with metal. Decaying Midwest said he alerted Chicago police after spotting the SUV still parked at the mall, but no arrests followed. He said a female officer on scene suggested that security was probably just trying to do its job.
Decaying Midwest told the outlet he believes the guard should face charges. The report notes that the realty group that owns Ford City Mall did not respond to CBS News Chicago's request for comment.
A Shuttered Property
The confrontation happened at the shuttered mall.
Illinois law draws a hard line around what security personnel can and cannot do in situations like this. Under the Illinois Private Security Act of 1983, private security guards do not hold peace officer status or sworn arrest powers, and are generally limited to citizen's-arrest standards using reasonable force only when an offense occurs in their presence, per a DePaul University Safety Report. Guards who use unlawful force or detain someone improperly can face civil and criminal liability.
Urban explorers entering a shuttered property like Ford City Mall also carry legal exposure of their own. Under Illinois law (720 ILCS 5/21-3), criminal trespass to real property is typically a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and fines up to $1,500 for knowingly entering or remaining on private land without authority, according to the Law Offices of Andrew M. Weisberg.
Explorer's History of Documenting Abandoned Sites
Decaying Midwest has built a following by touring abandoned properties across the region. He has continued that pattern at Ford City, entering and documenting the mall's interior after its closure this summer.
Parking Lot Has Drawn Other Safety Concerns
The vacant site has become a magnet for unauthorized activity beyond urban exploration. In July 2026, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot in the Ford City Mall parking lot during an unauthorized crowd gathering and street takeover. Separately, alderman Mike Rodriguez called for action after a street takeover at 47th Street and Cicero Avenue, a separate incident Hoodline previously reported. That shooting has also been referenced in coverage of broader street-takeover trends elsewhere on the Southwest Side.
What Comes Next for the Property
Ford City Mall's future looks nothing like its past. The Chicago Plan Commission approved a $200 million redevelopment proposal in August 2026 from Midwest RE Acquisitions LLC to demolish the main mall structure and replace it with a four-building, 1-million-square-foot warehouse campus featuring more than 900 parking spaces and 216 loading docks, according to Secret Chicago.
The push to convert the site reflects a broader industrial real estate trend across the Chicago area, where vacancy sat at just 4.8% in early 2026, according to Crain's Chicago Business, fueling developer interest in turning defunct retail centers into distribution hubs. The mall's roots run deep into that same industrial history: the site opened in 1943 as the Dodge Chicago Plant, a 6-million-square-foot World War II defense facility designed by Albert Kahn that built engines for B-29 bombers, before it was converted into a shopping mall in 1965, per the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal. The northern portion of that original defense-plant building was acquired in 1968 by Tootsie Roll Industries, which still operates its corporate headquarters and primary candy factory on the adjacent parcel today.
