An Uptown man who was charged in December with trying to sexually assault his neighbor during a home invasion also tried to sexually assault a woman in an Uptown bar three days later, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Boney Patel, 31, now faces additional charges of attempted criminal sexual assault by force and unlawful restraint in connection with a December 23 incident at Holiday Club, 4000 North Sheridan. Patel, a patent attorney who is not currently authorized to practice in Illinois, has been struggling with a mental health condition that set in early last year, his private defense attorney said Wednesday.
Prosecutors in late December accused Patel of groping five women over the course of several days before Christmas until his 25-year-old neighbor finally had him arrested for allegedly forcing his way into her home and throwing her on the bed in a violent attack.
The neighbor initially declined to press charges for the alleged home invasion because she feared Patel would retaliate, prosecutors said. But she changed her mind later and agreed to pursue charges.
Between the time of the alleged home invasion and the victim’s decision to pursue charges, Patel tried to sexually assault a woman in the Holiday Club’s women’s restroom, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The woman went to the club to celebrate her 26th birthday with a friend on December 23, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said. After paying the bill, she went to the women’s restroom.
When she turned around to close her stall door, Patel was standing there with both of his hands extended toward her, Murphy said. The woman pushed Patel away and tried to escape. According to Murphy, he grabbed her buttocks and hips with both hands and tried to pull her back into the stall. But the woman broke free and alerted staff members before she went home to call the police, Murphy said. The club workers threw Patel out.
The bar’s surveillance footage allegedly shows Patel following the victim into the women’s room and walking out after she exits.
Police arrested Patel four days later after his neighbor decided to press charges in the home invasion, according to court records. Murphy said that the woman who was allegedly attacked at the club subsequently identified him in a photo line-up.
Patel has been in Cook County jail in lieu of $250,000 bail since the December charges were filed. On January 14, he allegedly grabbed the buttocks of a nurse in the jail’s hospital while he was getting his blood pressure checked, Murphy said. Patel faces a charge of aggravated battery to a nurse for that incident.
Defense attorney Richard Fenbert said Patel scored a 35 on his ACT, received a degree in physics from the University of Nebraska, and graduated from Emery Law School before working as a patent attorney. His mental health began deteriorating last year, Fenbert said.
Patel’s family, who live out of town, have been working to meet strict conditions necessary for him to get out of jail, including renting a local apartment where they will stay with him while his cases are pending, Fenbert said.
On Wednesday, Judge Susana Ortiz acknowledged Patel’s condition but said, “he does constitute a danger to the community unless and until he is able to control whatever these impulses.” She set bail in the new case at $50,000, which is in addition to the $250,000 already set in the other cases. Patel will be required to go onto electronic monitoring with GPS if he is released.
