COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors on Friday laid out the chilling details of a home invasion and robbery in a Wicker Park apartment, saying a masked man broke in with a flashlight attached to his gun and forced a 21-year-old woman to strip and show her body.
Edward Malone, 22, a host at the high-end Catch 35 seafood restaurant on the ground floor of the Leo Burnett Building on Wacker Drive in the Loop, is now charged in the Jan. 1 attack.
Malone was arrested at the restaurant about 4 p.m. Thursday, still carrying the woman's backpack loaded with her valuables. He had the woman's phone in his pocket with a new SIM card, prosecutors said, and a loaded gun in the bag.
Malone is accused of breaking into the West Concord Place apartment about 11 p.m. Jan. 1, tying up the victim with stretch pants and then methodically leading the woman around her apartment to steal jewelry, an iPhone, a Playstation, a laptop and an iPad.
According to Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini, who spoke during a bond hearing Friday, Malone forced the woman at gunpoint to unlock her phone and computer and disable the location services.
Wearing a black balaclava ski mask and a black jacket, Malone ransacked the woman's apartment, filling the woman's backpack with her possessions, prosecutors said. He then forced her to remove her clothes as the woman begged for Malone to leave.
"After forcing the victim to strip naked," Santini said, Malone "ordered her to perform pirouettes while indicating that she was beautiful and it had been a long time since he had seen a beautiful woman naked."
As the woman begged Malone not to touch her, prosecutors said, he shined his flashlight on her body and examined her. Earlier in the attack, Malone groped the woman over her clothing while he patted her down to find her cellphone, according to Santini.
After tormenting the naked woman, prosecutors said, Malone tied her back up and stole her Trek triathlon bicycle and fled with the woman's belongings.
The woman untied herself, told a neighbor what happened and called 911.
Chicago Police detectives methodically tracked down Malone after they discovered he boarded a Blue Line 'L' train at the Damen stop with the woman's bicycle, Santini said.
Though Malone was still wearing a ski mask on surveillance footage from that stop, prosecutors said, police tracked down the Ventra card Malone used and realized he first boarded a train at the Bryn Mawr station about 9 p.m. that evening. Authorities were able to see Malone's face on surveillance footage from the Red Line station.
In the days that followed, the victim got a new iPad — and started getting messages meant for Malone, who apparently was using her computers, prosecutors said.
Detectives came up with a photo array of suspects based on the clues they found, and the victim picked Malone out of the photo lineup.
That's when police went to Catch 35 and busted him. Malone was found with the backpack, ski mask, victim's jewelry bag, three of her watches and a Glock 21 .45-caliber pistol with a small flashlight attached below the barrel, prosecutors said. It was loaded with 13 bullets.
Malone, of the 10900 Block of South Indiana Ave, is charged with home invasion, kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
According to prosecutors, he has previous convictions for burglary, theft and receiving stolen property.
His public defender said Malone attends church and has his GED.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on Friday ordered Malone held in lieu of $400,000 bail.
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