Man Charged In Sexual Assault, Robbery Near Red Line
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 26-year-old man has been arrested for robbing and raping a woman near a Red Line station in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Sunday.
Chicago police said Milton Anderson turned himself in on Monday.
Anderson allegedly grabbed a 25-year-old woman from behind as she left the Jarvis station on the red Line early Saturday morning. He showed a handgun, and forced her to an isolated area, where he sexually assaulted her and robbed her, police said.
After police and members of the Guardian Angels distributed detailed photos of Anderson from the Red Line platform, Anderson walked into Ald. Joe Moore's 49 Ward office, and then turned himself in to Area North detectives, accompanied by the alderman, police said.
"He knew that his picture was being flashed on Channel 2 and the other news media outlets, and that it was the best thing for him and his family that he turn himself in, rather than wait for the police to come arrest him," Moore said. "The people of Rogers Park, and particularly women of Rogers Park, I think, are safer today than they were before he turned himself in."
Moore said Anderson acknowledged the robbery, but not the sexual assault.
The victim later identified Anderson as her attacker, and he was charged with armed robbery and aggravated criminal sexual assault. In bond court Wednesday afternoon, a judge ordered Anderson held without bail.
Moore said a community activist reached out to him after the attack to say the suspect was ready to turn himself in, and the activist didn't want to do that himself.
"He prefers to remain anonymous," Moore said.
The alderman said that was borne out of a desire for the activist to protect relationships with the community, and not to be perceived as a "snitch" amid heightened tensions with police.
Moore said, over the years, he has maintained good relationships with both residents and police.
"It allows me to sort of serve as an intermediary between people in the community who may not have an abundance of trust in the Police Department and the Police Department itself," he said.
