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| Lorenzo Shorter attacked the woman in a third-floor apartment in this courtyard building, police said. |
A North Lawndale man was charged today with attempted murder and other felonies in connection with a Monday afternoon home invasion in the Wrigleyville neighborhood.
New details about the incident emerged during an afternoon bond hearing for 22-year-old Lorenzo Shorter at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
Prosecutors said Shorter entered the victim’s courtyard building in the 900 block of West Cornelia around 3:20 p.m. Monday and eventually walked into her third-floor apartment. Shorter put a 29-year-old woman who lives in the unit into a headlock that caused the woman to have difficulty breathing, prosecutors said. She broke free, locked herself inside her bedroom, and called 911.
Shorter grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen, began stabbing the kitchen wall, and broke contents of the apartment and a front window, according to police.
Responding cops pursued Shorter from the apartment building, beginning a 10-minute foot chase through Wrigleyville in which police units ran interference ahead of Shorter to keep unsuspecting passers-by from encountering him as he allegedly swung the butcher knife as he ran.
Prosecutors today said Shorter was pepper-sprayed by police in the 3400 block of North Seminary and that he swung the butcher knife at the head of an officer who moved closer to take him into custody. The officer was not struck by the blade, but Shorter was immediately tazed by three patrolmen, according to a police report.
Shorter is charged with attempted first-degree murder; Class X felony home invasion causing injury; felony aggravated battery – strangulation; felony resisting police; and misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon with intent to use. Judge Michael Clancy ordered him held without bail.
Prosecutors today said the victim recognized Shorter from the neighborhood, but she did not know him. As CWBChicago reported on Monday, there was some initial confusion about if the attacker was known to the victim because a 911 caller identified him by name — “Zoe.”
Court records show that Shorter has only one previous criminal case in Cook County. On May 18th, Chicago police arrested Shorter after he jumped a turnstile at the State-Chicago Red Line station and then refused to present identification so officers could issue a ticket. Police said at the time that Shorter was in possession of a Texas driver’s license. Shorter was sentenced to two days time served in that case.
Police have yet to determine if Shorter has any connection to a home invasion on Sunday morning in the 700 block of Buckingham in Boystown. In that case, a 23-year-old woman told police that she woke up shortly after 6 a.m. to find a man standing over her bed. The intruder hit her in the head with a wine bottle and a porcelain dish and then stole valuables before running from the scene.
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