The woman was doing laundry in the basement when she was attacked around 7 p.m. Wednesday in the 1200-block of West North Shore Avenue. She said a man crept up behind her, covered her eyes and demanded money. He took her phone and keys and slammed her head against a support beam before raping her.
Signs in the laundry room indicate there are surveillance cameras. However, no cameras were installed. The building owner said he had trouble getting companies to add internet access to the basement.
"Any time we have a dangerous incident like this, this is a complete stranger danger kind of thing, we just want to constantly remind the public and the citizens of the dangers out there and the steps they can take to ensure their safety, " Sgt. Andrew Schoeff, Chicago Police Department, said.
Police released a community alert after the attack. Loyola University, which is just one block from the crime scene, also warned students about the incident even though the victim is not affiliated with the school.
"It's pretty scary because it's only girls who live in my apartment and we're all pretty young and could be in a similar situation like that. So it's all of our biggest fears of living away at school," Kelly Hoff said.
"I was really surprised when detectives went up last night and asked me about what happened and it was like, I never heard anything," Jun Jun Remoreas, neighbor, said.
The suspect is a black male between 5'10" and 6'2". He was wearing tan boots, jeans and a black jacket with black and white wrist cuffs.
