Glenview man charged with attempted kidnapping of girl who had just exited school bus
GLENVIEW, Ill. (CBS) – Bond was set at $750,000 Thursday for a Glenview man accused of attempting to kidnap a girl who had just gotten off a school bus this week.
Pratib Ranjit, 24, is charged with aggravated battery and unlawful restraint.
Glenview police were called for the attempted kidnapping at 3:41 p.m. Monday.
In a proffer, an assistant Cook County State's Attorney said the victim was a 13-year-old girl who was walking home in a residential area near a forest preserve from her bus stop after school.
The prosecutor said the girl walked from the bus stop on Milwaukee Avenue near Kennicott Lane and turned to walk down another street toward her home, prosecutors said. It was sunny out at the time, and the girl saw a shadow from her behind, prosecutors said.
The girl turned around, and Ranjit grabbed her from behind and dragged her to the ground, prosecutors said. The girl turned her head to see Ranjit's face as he pulled her down, prosecutors said.
The girl yelled as Ranjit put his arm under her leg to pick her up, prosecutors said. She kept yelling as Ranjit put his whole body on top of her, prosecutors said.
Ranjit was heavy and put a great deal of force on the girl when they were on the ground, prosecutors said.
As Ranjit lay on top of the girl and forced her to remain on the ground, she elbowed and kicked her feet at him while she kept yelling, prosecutors said. The girl thought Ranjit was going to pick her up or drag her off the street, prosecutors said.
Ultimately, the girl elbowed Ranjit in the head and was able to get out of his hold and run home, prosecutors said.
The victim immediately told her father, who called 911, prosecutors said. Police came, and promptly got surveillance video from a local business, prosecutors said.
Police used surveillance video to find a red crossover sport-utility vehicle parked in a hotel parking lot just before the attempted kidnapping, prosecutors said. In the video, Ranjit is seen getting out of the parked SUV and walking toward the street where the girl was walking toward her home, prosecutors said.
The video also shows Ranjit running back toward the SUV and driving away, prosecutors said.
Detectives determined the SUV was a Subaru with front-end damage, of which Ranjit is the registered owner, prosecutors said.
On Tuesday, the girl identified Ranjit in a photo prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Ranjit admitted to grabbing the girl and pulled her to the ground, and told investigators he "has a problem when he sees pretty girls," prosecutors said. He told investigators he has "been trying to control himself but hasn't been able to control himself around pretty girls in the past," prosecutors said.
Ranjit said his "system was to go, grab, run away," and told investigators his natural instincts typically kick in at night, prosecutors said. He said he had committed similar acts with others before, but had gotten scared, prosecutors said.
Ranjit said the more times he committed such acts, the more his confidence grew, prosecutors said.
He told investigators the girl in Glenview had a nice body, and said he pulled her to the ground with the intention of getting on top of her, prosecutors said.
Ranjit said when he has committed similar acts in the past, he would usually get women to the ground before he touched them out of concern for his own safety, prosecutors said. In this case, he told investigators he lost interest in this latest case when the victim was a child, prosecutors said.
He told investigators he "doesn't have any control," and was laughing when he made the remark, prosecutors said.
Ranjit said he would have tried to have sex with the girl if she had been older, depending on whether she fought back, prosecutors said.
He said, "It is only worth the risk to assault a woman if she is attractive," prosecutors said.
Ranjit is due back on Thursday, Feb. 16.