Chicago police are asking for the public's help identifying a man accused of sexually abusing a woman as she stepped off a Blue Line train at the Division station in Wicker Park earlier this month. Investigators say the man boarded the train at Cumberland station, waited for a woman to get off, then grabbed and sprinted toward her as she exited at Division station.
The incident happened at about 6:08 p.m. on September 5, according to ABC7 Chicago, which reported the police alert. The outlet reports that the man fled the station afterward. Police describe him as roughly 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 210 pounds, with long black hair and tattoos on his upper left arm. He was last seen wearing a black Adidas baseball cap.
Mass transit detectives are asking anyone with information to call (312) 745-4447. The same report notes that the suspect waited for the woman to exit before grabbing her, a detail that underscores investigators' account of a deliberate, targeted approach rather than a random encounter.
A 13-Stop Ride Along the O'Hare Branch
Cumberland station is on the Blue Line. Division station itself is a 24-hour underground stop that connects to CTA bus routes 9, X9, 56, and 70. The two stations are on the Blue Line.
CPD's Mass Transit Detectives are handling the alert.
Precedent for Fast Turnarounds Using Transit Video
That camera network has produced quick results before. In January, Area Three detectives working alongside CTA staff arrested a suspect in a separate CTA sexual abuse case within 11 hours of the offense, with detectives and CTA staff working together, Hoodline reported at the time. Whether investigators have similarly pulled clear footage of the man boarding at Cumberland or exiting at Division has not been disclosed.
Under Illinois law, criminal sexual abuse is a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second offense or certain circumstances, according to the Stavros Law Offices. A Class 4 felony carries a potential sentence of one to three years in state prison along with mandatory sex offender registration. The police alert does not state whether an arrest had been announced.
A Platform With a Recent History of Violence
Division station has drawn scrutiny over rider safety before. In chef shoved onto Blue Line tracks, Hoodline detailed a January sentencing of 12 years in prison for a man convicted of pushing a chef onto the tracks at that same platform. The station is in Wicker Park.
CTA leadership's July report said system-wide crime had fallen for six consecutive months, including a 47% drop on the Red Line.
