Police release man sought in purported Brown Line “groping” case — girl’s allegations are “unfounded”

Chicago police this morning arrested a man who had been sought in connection with the purported restraint and “inappropriate touching” of a teen girl on the Brown Line in Lakeview. 

After nearly 10 hours in custody, detectives released the man tonight and a the department announced that the case is “unfounded.”

Investigators on Sunday evening released six CTA surveillance images of the man and said he was being sought for putting his arm around a 16-year-old girl’s lower waist and inappropriately touching her while holding her against her will aboard an inbound Brown Line train Saturday morning.

Between 8:45 and 9 a.m. today, police received at least three phone calls from people who saw the images and recognized the man as an employee of a hotel in the Loop. The hotel is located near the Quincy Brown Line station, where investigators said the purported offender exited the train on Saturday.

Officers arrested the man around 9 a.m. in an office building that is associated with Chicago hospitality laborers.

Detectives questioned the man for several hours before they released him after determining that the girl’s allegations were groundless.

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About Tim Hecke 5786 Articles
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago's managing partner. He started his career at KMOX, the legendary news radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim went on to build syndicated radio news and content services that served every one of America's 100 largest radio markets. He became CWBChicago's managing partner in 2019. He can be reached at tim@cwbchicago.com