COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A man is accused of trying to rape a woman inside the The Castle, a nightclub located in the historic River North building that formerly housed Excalibur.
Rocio Garza, 24, along with the young woman he allegedly cornered and molested, appeared before a Cook County judge Wednesday for a preliminary hearing in the case.
With Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Christina Brewer asking her to recount the attack, the woman said she had met Garza earlier that night and was alone smoking cigarettes with him when she realized she might be in danger.
They had been hanging out and drinking at the nightclub, 632 N. Dearborn St., on April 19. At 3 a.m., while they were in a secluded part of the building, Garza tried to kiss her, she said.
The woman said she refused — three times.
"He said, 'You are going to have sex with me,'" the woman said, recalling that Garza then reached into his pocket. "I could hear the crumbling of a condom [wrapper]. I knew what it was."
Trapped in a corner behind a bar, the woman said she knew that no one would hear her over the loud music if she screamed. She tried to talk her way out of the situation.
Garza allegedly grew more insistent and grabbed her, she said.
The woman said she briefly lost consciousness when Garza turned her around and wrapped his arm around her neck in a choke hold.
"I felt like he was trying to kill me," she said.
The woman woke up a short time later slumped in a chair with Garza standing exposed before her, the woman said.
She said she started to scream and Garza "got nervous" and ran away with her purse.
Garza was identified and arrested several days later with the help of the nightclub staff.
"The club fully cooperated with the investigation and the Chicago Police Department, and as a result the offender was taken into custody," William McFall, director of operations at The Castle, said after the hearing.
According to court records, Garza faces charges of unlawful restraint, robbery, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, attempted criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery.
Garza stood before the judge shaking his head no as the woman accused him of trying to rape her.
During cross examination, a public defender representing Garza asked the woman if she had been smoking marijuana the night of the alleged attack, and if she had seen a woman's name tattooed on Garza's penis.
The woman answered "no" to both questions.
A Cook County judge ruled Wednesday that probable cause existed in the case, meaning it can move forward.
Garza, who is being held on $300,000 bail, could remain in jail pending a trial.
