Arrest made in abduction case

The state's attorney is scheduled to go before the grand jury on April 23 to seek indictments on counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and armed robbery against a South Side man who abducted a 23-year-old University student.

The suspect allegedly confronted the student at gunpoint at approximately 8:30 p.m. on March 9 while she was getting out of her car in the 1300 block of East 60th Street. He forced her to drive to an automated teller machine at 55th Street and Lake Park Avenue to withdraw $500; he then ordered her to drive to a vacant lot at 64th Street and Kimbark Avenue, where he began sexually assaulting her before she escaped.

The suspect has been on parole since October for a similar offense. He is being held without bond.

Police are still searching for a lone woman who committed two separate robberies on the Midway before the end of last quarter, according to Robert Richards, Law Enforcement Coordinator for the South East Chicago Commission. She is described as an African American, 25-30 years old, 5'3"-5'7", with a slim build and a medium complexion; the vehicle she was driving is described as a blue hatchback with rust on its rear panels.

Richards said that overall crime for the first quarter of the current year declined more than 25 percent, with significant decreases in nearly all categories of crime in Hyde Park and South Kenwood. The quarterly Neighborhood Safety & Security report will appear in the April 28 Chronicle.