Police Search For Man Who Sexually Assaulted Teen
UPDATED 03/02/12 9:12 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police on the city's Far South Side are seeking the attacker who raped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint in the Roseland neighborhood.
As WBBBM Newsradio's Brandis Friedman reports, the Wednesday incident was the second such attack on the South Side in recent weeks.
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Police said there are many similarities between the two attacks, although they occurred six miles apart. In both rapes, the attacker approached the victim and tried to speak with her, then pulled a gun.
The latest attack happened between 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. Wednesday near 95th Street and Prairie Avenue, as the girl walked to school. The attacker started chatting the girl up, then flashed a gun and forced her into a nearby yard to rape her.
He fled afterward.
The earlier attack happened on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 21, near 59th and Wood Streets in the West Englewood neighborhood. The 13-year-old victim was on her way to school, and a man came up and started chatting with her, then forced her at gunpoint into a nearby alley and raped her.
In the latest attack in Roseland, the assailant is described in the alert as about 17, 5-foot-7, 120 pounds, with brown eyes and a light complexion. He was last seen wearing a black skullcap, a black hoodie, blue jeans and tan Timberland boots.
In the West Englewood attack last week, the assailant is described as an African-American male standing 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a slim build and a light complexion. He was wearing a black hooded jacket and a black skullcap at the time of the attack, police said.
A sketch of the assailant in the assault last week has been released, and neighbors held a vigil earlier this week in support of the victim.
Police have not indicated whether they believe the same suspect may have committed the assaults.
Anyone with information about the latest attack in Roseland is asked to call Calumet Area police detectives at (312) 747-8271. Anyone with information about the West Englewood attack last week is asked to call Wentworth Area detectives, at (312) 747-8380.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
