A woman running on the Illinois Prairie Path in Elmhurst was sexually battered Thursday night between York Street and Pioneer Park, and police say the attacker fled the scene on an electric scooter. The incident happened between 8:45 and 9 p.m., according to police, who have issued a community alert to neighborhoods surrounding the trail and are asking anyone with information to call 911.
Police described the attack as occurring while the woman was running on the path, a heavily used route for runners, walkers and bikers, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Investigators have not released the victim's condition or additional details about what happened during the encounter, and police have provided no further specifics beyond the alert itself.
Public safety cameras captured the suspect leaving the area on the scooter, and Elmhurst police have since released a more detailed description. As reported by Patch, the suspect is a Hispanic man in his 30s who was riding an electric scooter with an illuminated headlight, wearing a red shirt, light-colored cargo shorts and a black cap. Footage shows him traveling west on Vallette Street from York Street shortly after the attack.
How Investigators Are Piecing Together the Suspect's Path
Elmhurst maintains a voluntary Video-Sharing Partnership that lets residents and businesses register private security cameras facing public streets so investigators can request footage during criminal probes, though the program does not give police live access and officers must ask permission before reviewing any recordings, per the same partnership's guidelines. That system, along with the city's public safety cameras, is likely why police are specifically appealing to neighbors along Vallette and York streets for home security video that could help identify the suspect. Elmhurst has also leased a network of automated license plate readers for over a decade, with Police Chief Michael McLean telling the city council in July that the cameras are used exclusively to share data with local Illinois law enforcement agencies, the article notes.
The scooter itself may point to a violation of trail rules on top of the alleged assault. The Illinois Prairie Path Corporation prohibits motorized vehicles on the path entirely, restricting electric mobility devices to low-speed Class 1, 2 or 3 e-bikes capped at 750 watts and 15 mph. Separately, state law under Public Act 103-0899 bars low-speed electric scooters from sidewalks and non-roadway paths unless a local municipality has passed an ordinance specifically authorizing them.
A Trail With a Long History and Recent Safety Concerns
The 61-mile Illinois Prairie Path stretches across Cook, DuPage and Kane counties and traces its origins to a 1963 proposal by naturalist May Theilgaard Watts, who envisioned turning the abandoned right-of-way of the old Chicago, Aurora & Elgin electric railway into a public trail. It became the first rail-to-trail conversion in the United States and was inducted into the Rails-to-Trails Hall of Fame in 2008.
Thursday's attack comes about a month after a separate violent incident along the same trail system in neighboring Wheaton, where a 48-year-old man was charged with felony aggravated battery for allegedly attacking and punching a woman sitting on a bench near the path in July. That suspect was reportedly out on pretrial release for separate battery charges at the time of the Wheaton attack, according to Patch. DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said afterward that unprovoked violent attacks on innocent citizens in public suburban spaces would face zero tolerance and aggressive felony prosecution.
If the Elmhurst suspect is caught and the allegations are proven, an act of sexual conduct committed by force or threat of force qualifies as criminal sexual abuse under Illinois law, a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison and mandatory sex offender registration. Subsequent offenses or aggravating circumstances can escalate the charge to a higher felony tier.
Elmhurst police have asked anyone who saw the man described above, or who has home security footage from the area around Vallette and York streets, to come forward. No arrests had been announced as of the alert's release, and police have not said whether the suspect has been identified.
