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Sexual Assault Stopped By Neighbor In Socks Who Ran After Attacker: Police

By Alisa Hauser | March 30, 2016 9:50am
 The incident took place around 8 p.m. Monday in the 2600 block of West Chicago Avenue, when a 47-year-old woman was followed off of a CTA No. 66 Chicago Avenue bus by an 18-year-old man who had been riding on the same bus.
The incident took place around 8 p.m. Monday in the 2600 block of West Chicago Avenue, when a 47-year-old woman was followed off of a CTA No. 66 Chicago Avenue bus by an 18-year-old man who had been riding on the same bus.
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EAST HUMBOLDT PARK — A good Samaritan wearing no shoes managed to chase away a man attempting to sexually assault his neighbor Monday near Smith Park, according to witnesses and police.  

The incident took place around 8 p.m. Monday in the 2600 block of West Chicago Avenue, when a 47-year-old woman was followed off a CTA No. 66 Chicago Avenue bus by an 18-year-old man who had been riding on the same bus.

Witnesses on the bus who noticed the man following the woman to her doorstep called 911, according to Kim Shepherd, a CAPS facilitator who posted a narrative of the incident on the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Watch page after speaking with police who'd arrested the alleged attacker.

Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman, confirmed that an 18-year-old man approached the woman as she exited the bus and "pushed her down to the ground and attempted to assault her." 

Pacheco said that a 33-year-old man heard screaming and then stopped the assault and chased after the attacker. Neighbors said the man ran toward the attacker in socks since he sprung into action after seeing the assault in progress. 

Though Shepherd said she believes the attacker will face attempted criminal sexual assault charges, Pacheco said on Wednesday that "charges are still pending" and that the man has been in custody since Monday.

"He probably will be in court tomorrow [to face charges]," Pacheco said.

The woman suffered minor injuries in the attack, Pacheco said.

Shepherd said that the man who stopped the attack went back to aid his neighbor just as beat patrol officers from the Near West District arrived to the scene. The neighbor was able to point police to the dark alley that the man had disappeared into during the chase.

"We are blessed to live in an area where neighbors truly look out for one another and the police are engaged and involved in making ours a safer neighborhood.  When our brave neighbor comes forward, he has dozens of standing offers for congratulatory adult beverages from his grateful fellow residents," Shepherd said.

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