Arrests made in recent robberies; sexual assault at party

An alert witness and diligent police work led to the arrests of two suspects in at least five robberies that occurred in recent weeks in Hyde Park, according to Bob Richards, Law Enforcement Coordinator for the South East Chicago Commission.

One of the suspects has been charged with three robberies that occurred between the hours of 6 and 7 a.m. on Feb. 2 and 3. All three incidents involved a woman walking alone and one or two male offenders. All three incidents were strong-arm robberies; no weapon was evident.

The first incident, on Feb. 2, occurred in the 55th Street Metra station, when a woman who was walking up the stairs was knocked to the ground from behind and two offenders demanded her money. On Feb. 3, a woman walking in a parking lot in the 5300 block of Cornell was approached from behind and knocked to the ground, and an offender fled with her purse. Fifteen minutes later, a woman walking in the 1600 block of 55th Street was approached by two men who demanded her property, pushed her into an alley and took her purse. The offenders then fled in a nearby car.

The last incident was witnessed by a passing driver, who followed the offenders' vehicle and obtained the license plate number. Police from the 21st District Tactical Unit traced the car to its owner on the West Side of the city. The owner's son, who matched the description of one of the offenders, admitted to the crimes and named his accomplice. Police arrested both offenders.

The second offender was subsequently identified by two of the victims in a string of early-morning robberies in January, including an attempted armed robbery on Jan. 4 in which a woman was shot while she waited at the bus stop at 54th Street and Lake Park Avenue.

In another incident, a woman reported on Feb. 1 that she had been sexually assaulted by two men whom she can identify during a party at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house on the evening of Jan. 26 and in the early morning of Jan. 27. The incident is being investigated by Chicago Police and University authorities.

This is the second incident reported at Alpha Delta Phi since Jan. 1. In an earlier incident, a man reported that he had been beaten and cut with a bottle in the course of an altercation that occurred on the evening of Jan. 12 and the early morning of Jan. 13. The victim filed a complaint with police, and a suspect was arrested.