COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — When an off-duty Chicago police officer was attacked while jogging two years ago, she fought back by gouging the man's eyes and squeezing his groin, prosecutors said.
Now, Rolando Cortes, 21, faces charges in the case after investigators matched his DNA to what was collected underneath the victim's fingernails, Assistant State's Attorney Sarah Karr said in court Friday.
Cortes was arrested Thursday inside Cook County Jail, where he's awaiting trial for three other violent crimes against women leaving a Mayfair gym in 2013 and 2014.
"I find you a danger to the community," Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. said during a bond hearing Friday. "Your bond will be denied."
The police officer was jogging on the Sauganash Park bike path on Aug. 29, 2013, when Cortes grabbed her from behind about 2:45 p.m., Karr said. The officer, now 40 years old, fought back, and the pair tumbled down an embankment into some bushes.
Karr said the woman landed on her back, and Cortes got on top of her and groped her. When the officer started screaming, Cortes punched her repeatedly in the head, according to prosecutors.
It was then that the officer gouged the man's eyes and squeezed his groin, Karr said. Cortes eventually ran off, but the woman was unable to chase him because her hair was caught in a bush, she added.
The officer was treated at Swedish Covenant Hospital for injuries to her head, lip, arm and legs, court documents show. DNA samples were collected from her fingernails.
When Cortes was arrested this week, he told police he spotted the officer in Sauganash Park that afternoon, thought she was attractive, and got "an excited feeling to the point that he had an extreme urge to touch her," Karr said.
Cortes was charged with battery and criminal sexual abuse by force.
All three of Cortes' other pending cases stem from attacks outside an XSport Fitness Health Club near Elston and Kostner, according to prosecutors.
On Feb. 19, 2014, Cortes grabbed a 22-year-old woman leaving the gym around 11:30 p.m., Karr said. He allegedly told the victim he had a knife and threatened to kill her before forcing the woman to the edge of the parking lot, tripping her and pulling down her pants.
Cortes raped the woman, dragged her to a nearby courtyard and raped her again, Karr said. He then asked for the woman's phone number. While the victim was at the police station reporting the crime, according to prosecutors, Cortes called and left a voicemail apologizing for raping her.
He was subsequently arrested.
And on June 9, 2013, Cortes attacked a 21-year-old woman leaving the gym — grabbing her from behind and covering her mouth, prosecutors said. He picked up the victim and stole her belongings that fell to the ground before running away, according to Karr.
On July 10, 2013, Cortes grabbed a 23-year-old woman leaving the same gym, prosecutors said. He allegedly threw the woman to the ground, stole her phone and headphones, and ran away.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
