Guardian Angels Patrol Blue Line Stop Near Scene Of Sexual Assault
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Members of the Guardian Angels were patrolling near a CTA Blue Line station on the Northwest Side on Wednesday, two days after a woman was sexually assaulted along a heavily-traveled walkway in the Mayfair neighborhood.
Around 10 p.m. Monday, a 24-year-old woman was walking on a landscaped path that leads from the 4500 block of West Agatite Avenue to the 4500 block of West Montrose Avenue, when a man grabbed her from behind.
Police said the man pushed the woman's face down into a flower bed, and then he sexually assaulted her. During the attack, he choked and punched the woman as she struggled. She might have scratched the right side of his face as she tried to get away.
The woman fled to the nearby Blue Line stop, where police found her. She was taken to the hospital to be treated for cuts to her face and knees.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports, on Wednesday morning, members of the Guardian Angels were patrolling that landscaped walkway where the woman was grabbed. They were escorting commuters to and from the station, and distributing leaflets to help raise awareness about the attack.
Even with the escorts who were there Wednesday morning, some commuters said they were still on edge.
One woman, who gave her name only as Cindy, said, "this is my pathway every day in the morning, and when I come back from work, so … I'm very nervous,"
"They're happy to see us in the area," Guardian Angel member Thomas Hunt said. "Somebody needed to do something in this area here. With it being the way it is, anybody could jump out from anywhere at any given time, and they could be attacked. There's no security here, nothing around for them to be protected."
Hunt said the Guardian Angels want local residents to know that potential attackers could prey on people who are walking alone, especially at night.
The Guardian Angels said there have been at least three sexual assaults in the area since mid-May.
The suspect in Monday's attack was described as white or Hispanic in appearance, standing 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11, weighing 140 to 160 pounds, with short black hair. He was wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt.
The victim told police she believed she scratched the man's face.
