Sexual assault of DePaul student linked to other attacks, police say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The sexual assault of a 21-year-old DePaul University student early Thursday is believed to be linked to an Aug. 9 assault just five blocks away in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, police said.

Police believe the same man attempted to sexually assault a third woman on Aug. 15 in the Gold Coast neighborhood, but she was able to escape.

In all three cases, police said a man between the ages of 25 and 45 years old targeted a lone female walking home alone in the early morning. In two cases, the woman was in the entryway of her residence.

The latest incident happened at about 1:40 a.m. Thursday near West Belden and North Sheffield avenues, just east of DePaul's student center. The man knocked the woman to the ground and sexually assaulted her. She screamed and he ran away.

Since the attack happened in the middle of campus, both public safety officers and Chicago police officers responded. Students woke up to an alert from campus authorities early Thursday morning.

The other attacks happened on Aug. 9 in the 1900-block of North Bissell Street at about 3:45 a.m., just five blocks from Thursday's attack. The attempted assault happened on Aug. 15 in the 100-block of West Goethe Street at 12:25 a.m. in the Gold Coast.

Police released a surveillance video photo of the man. Police said he is a male with olive skin, possibly Hispanic, who is between five-feet-five-inches and five-feet-nine-inches tall and weighs between 160 and 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored, short-sleeved polo shirt with white horizontal stripes and jeans cuffed at the bottom.

Kaie Raig said she was the first woman assaulted on Aug. 9 and wants other women to be aware.

"It's just heartbreaking to know that it happened again," said Raig, who gave ABC7 permission to use her name and image. "I wish an alert is sent out every time a sexual assault happens. I don't think it should matter if it's a pattern or not."

Raig said she was walking home when she was attacked by the man caught on surveillance video.

"All of a sudden some guy grabbed me from behind, like a bear hug, he then covered my mouth, went up my dress, pushed me down on the floor and ran," Raig said.

She said she immediately notified her neighbors the next day. Neighbor Sarah Brennan called Ald. Michele Smith (43rd Ward) and wanted her to put out a community alert. She didn't.

"I'm very angry," Brennan said. "I'm very upset this happened again. I truly believe that if DePaul had been given the information that we had since August 9, this morning's incident could have been prevented."

Ald. Smith said she was just waiting for police.

"The police have to control their investigation and I would never do anything to interfere with an on-going investigation," Smith said.

In response to the Thursday morning attack, Lincoln Park residents were on alert.

"Lincoln Park is a very safe neighborhood, especially around campus. Sometimes you don't think twice about it. That kind of becomes just a comfort thing, from being here for so long. Yeah, I mean, 1:42 a.m. That's definitely a time in which I could be out," Kaitlyn Anglum said.

"I've never felt like we have an issue. I've always felt this is the safest place to live, even when we were looking for apartments, that's why we chose here, because it's a lot safer," resident Samantha Anderson said.