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| A 2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara | ZombDrive |
Chicago police on Sunday were advised to keep an eye out for a stolen SUV that was used by the man who brutally attacked a recent DePaul graduate near the school’s Lincoln Park campus last week.
Investigators are looking for a white 2010 Suzuki Vitara bearing an Indiana plate that begins with “101.” Officers were told the SUV has a sunroof and was reported stolen on July 17th, hours before the victim was attacked on the 2300 block of North Halsted.
Police said they had secured video that shows a man driving the wrong way on Belden Avenue and then emerging to attack the 22-year-old woman with a knife around 3:30 a.m. Investigators suggested the attack may have been sexually-motivated, but a CPD spokesperson said the victim was not sexually assaulted.
A community alert issued by police on Friday described the attacker only as “male.”
Passersby found the woman on the ground outside of a DePaul facility bleeding from her neck, about 50 feet from where the attack apparently unfolded. Officers initially thought the woman may have been struck by a car until they discovered slash wounds to her face and neck. Her condition has been stabilized, and doctors expect the woman to recover.
A 2018 attack
Last week’s incident sparked memories of a similar attack on a woman that was reported about a half-mile away on April 10, 2018. In that case, a 21-year-old woman was attacked from behind by a man who repeatedly stabbed her in the 1200 block of West Webster around 10:50 p.m.
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| Video grab of the 2018 attacker. | CPD |
Surveillance video later showed the assailant double-park an SUV on a nearby side street, then sit on a landscaping fence until the woman passed him. He then stood up, grabbed the woman in a chokehold from behind, and “immediately stabbed the victim numerous times in the neck and back,” police said at the time. He then returned to the Cadillac SRX and drove away.
The victim said the man never said a word. Police never revealed a motive, and the case has not been solved, according to information on the city’s crime data portal.
The 2018 attacker was described as a male of unknown race who stands about 5’9” tall and was wearing all black clothing including a black hoodie and baggy black pants.
