Man Charged In Lakeview Rape, Robbery
Updated 04/16/14 - 1:01 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 20-year-old man was caught on multiple surveillance cameras before and after he allegedly raped and robbed a woman in broad daylight Tuesday afternoon in Lakeview, prosecutors said in court.
Marcus Lynch, of the 4700 block of South Loomis Boulevard, has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and armed robbery.
Lynch was denied bail Wednesday afternoon, after prosecutors told a judge he'd been caught on camera following the a 22-year-old woman after she left a Circle K convenience store at a Shell gas station at Halsted and Addison streets around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim told police she started walking down the alley behind the gas station after buying a pack of cigarettes, and heard a man running behind her. She turned and saw a man running towards her. He grabbed her by the neck, brandished a knife, and threatened to cut her throat before forcing her into an open garage.
Once inside, he sexually assaulted her behind a pickup truck, then stole her purse and iPhone before fleeing the scene, prosecutors said.
The woman ran to a coffee shop to get help, and was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Cameras at a nearby CTA Red Line station recorded Lynch fleeing the scene. He was carrying a knife when he was arrested, and confessed to the attack, prosecutors said.
Lakeview residents said they're relieved someone was arrested so quickly.
"I woke up this morning; my roomie had written on the dry erase board, 'Stay out of the alleys, someone got raped in Boystown, so it definitely kind of freaked me out this morning," Sarah Curnow said. "That is awesome that someone got caught, so we know he's not out there wandering around the streets."
Kim Schenk said she was "totally shocked" to hear of the attack.
"This is a very safe neighborhood. We've got a senior citizen center going in right there and a daycare going in right there, so it's terrible to hear that there's something like that going on in this neighborhood," she said.
Lynch was denied bail at a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon, and was due back in court on May 6. He has at least two previous arrests on misdemeanor battery charges, but both cases were dropped.
According to prosecutors, Lynch has worked as a janitor at a YMCA facility in Chicago. He's a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College Of Culinary Arts in the River North neighborhood.
