CHICAGO — A North Side man charged with assaulting a woman on DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus ran his car into a tree and hit an officer with his car door as he attempted to flee arrest, prosecutors said at a bond hearing Saturday.
Isidrio Valverde, 40, of the 5000 block of North Sheridan Road in Uptown, was identified after people who know him saw that police released a surveillance image of a suspect sought in connection to three sexual assaults in Lincoln Park in the past two weeks. They contacted police, then the victim from the most recent sexual assault identified him in a photo array, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Saturday that Valverde had previously been convicted of public indecency (2007), having a fake ID (2003) and two DUIs (1997),
Around 1:40 a.m. Thursday, a 21-year-old woman was returning to her car near DePaul's Wish Field in the 900 block of West Belden Avenue when a man knocked her to the ground and sexually assaulted her, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman.
The woman suffered abrasions to her knee and scratches to her thigh, prosecutors said Saturday. The attacker also scratched the victim when he put his fingers inside her vagina, prosecutors said. The man ran away when the victim screamed, and surveillance cameras recorded the attack, prosecutors said.
Police went to arrest Valverde, who tried to drive away in a car but hit a tree, prosecutors said. When a police officer tried to open Valverde's door, Valverde tried to drive again, hitting him with the car door, prosecutors said.
The officer suffered pain and swelling and was treated at a local hospital and released, according to prosecutors and police.
Police found the shirt Valverde was shown wearing in surveillance footage of Thursday's attack in his car, prosecutors said.
Valverde is charged with one count of felony aggravated criminal sexual assault, one count of felony resisting and obstructing a police officer and a few traffic violations.
Valverde is a married father of four and lives with his wife, his public defender, Megan Tomlinson, said. He has been a mechanic for 16 years.
At a bond court hearing Saturday, Judge Laura Sullivan set Valverde's bail at $500,000. He will next appear in court on Monday.
Police did not charge Valverde in the two other sexual assaults they previously linked to the suspect, and prosecutors did not mention the incidents at Valverde's bond hearing Saturday.
Ald. Michele Smith, whose ward includes the area where the sexual assaults occurred, said her office has begun outreach to the areas where the assaults occurred and was distributing a flier with more information. Her office will be hosting a public safety seminar in the coming weeks.
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