Postal worker sexually abused in Ashburn

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police are searching for an attacker after a United States Postal Service letter carrier was sexually abused in the Ashburn neighborhood.

Police said a 29-year-old woman was sexually abused inside a building in the 3300-block of West 79th Street Wednesday at about 4:30 p.m.

Police said the victim was approached by a man in his 20s and grabbed from behind. The man stuck his hand up her shirt and touched her inappropriately.

The USPS said the victim was a postal carried. She was able to fend off the attacker, who ran off after the attack, police said.

Neighbors said they see the suspect all the time, and always thought he was up to no good. They believe he is the one who cornered the postal worker Wednesday afternoon.

"She was like, 'When I went in the hallway, he followed me in the hallway, pushed me in, and tried to go under my clothes.' I'm like, 'Oh!' I'm like, 'Wait a minute,'" said Janica Barnes-Jones.

Barnes-Jones lives next door. She spoke to the 29-year-old victim right after the attack.

"She was crying. She was upset. She was like, she was shaking," Barnes-Jones said.

Barnes-Jones said she saw the suspect pacing in the street just before the attack.

"He was just walking back and forth and just standing there, but like I said, we always have people standing at the corner or standing by the alley all the time," she said.

But this suspect is different, known to follow young women in the neighborhood. Now people are on high alert and on the lookout for a man who they hope won't strike again.

"It's scary to know that there's a predator out here amongst a lot of the kids and the people in the community," said neighbor James Jones.

"We know who he is. So when we see him, we're definitely gonna call the police. Definitely not afraid and we're waiting to see him again," Barnes-Jones said.

The suspect is described as a man with brown skin, about five-eight, chunky build with a short afro hair cut in his 20's wearing a navy collared shirt, brown pants and blue and white Jordans.

Neighbors said the letter carrier has only been on the route for a few weeks.