COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A suburban man who followed a woman off a CTA Red Line train and raped her Saturday was on probation for domestic battery at the time of the attack, prosecutors said.
Jason Hooks, 20, of Bellwood, followed the 31-year-old victim off the train at the Harrison stop about 3 a.m. Saturday, Assistant State's Attorney Molly Donnelly said during a bond hearing Monday.
As the woman walked in the 600 block of South Plymouth Court, Hooks hit her from behind, threw her to the ground and demanded she take off her clothes, Donnelly said. The woman complied "out of fear," and Hooks proceeded to brutally rape and beat her, Donnelly added.
After the attack, the woman flagged down a passerby who called 911 and began to take her to a hospital, prosecutors said. The pair met up with an ambulance, which drove the woman to Mercy Hospital.
According to Donnelly, the woman had a concussion and broken nose, as well as numerous injuries on her face and body.
Police issued a community alert with Hooks' photo after he was identified in surveillance footage, prosecutors said. Several people came forward with information, and Hooks was arrested Sunday, hiding in a closet under a pile of clothes.
The clothes Hooks was wearing at the time of the rape were found in the house, Donnelly said, and Hooks admitted he forced the woman to have sex.
Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Monday ordered Hooks held in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to prosecutors, Hooks is on probation for a 2014 domestic battery conviction. Details of that case were not immediately available.
Hooks has two prior 2013 convictions for theft and attempted theft, Donnelly said. In both cases, Hook was sentenced to probation. In both cases, Hooks violated probation.
According to Hooks' public defender, Hooks has three children and occasionally works for moving companies through a temp service. Hooks previously attended Triton College, his attorney said, and supports his mother and six younger siblings.
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