Update 2:55 p.m. — Chicago police are questioning a suspect.
The man who attempted to kidnap a woman in the West Loop on Sunday morning may have tried to abduct another woman downtown just minutes later, according to a source. But Chicago police have not revealed the information publicly.
And, CWBChicago has learned the suspect was driving a stolen van that he crashed moments after the second incident before fleeing into the CTA train system.
On Monday night, Chicago police released surveillance images of the suspect, which showed him walking through the Jackson Red Line station around 8:56 a.m.
As previously reported, a 45-year-old woman was walking southbound in the 200 block of South Sangamon on Sunday morning when a man stepped out of a parked minivan and grabbed her by both arms, according to police. He attempted to drag the woman into a minivan, but a rideshare passenger intervened. The woman screamed and shoved him away.
The suspect returned to the minivan, drove around the rideshare driver’s car, and sped away.
Minutes later, a 35-year-old woman was walking in the 100 block of West Roosevelt when she saw a man standing outside a vehicle around 8:40 a.m., a police spokesperson said. As she passed by, the man put his arms around the woman.
She pushed and struck the offender until he got into the vehicle and drove away westbound in a maroon or burgundy-colored minivan. An initial report said the man’s pants were down.
Then, at 8:45 a.m., a maroon-colored minivan slammed into a man’s pick-up truck in the 500 block of West Van Buren, according to a CPD crash report. The minivan came to rest on the sidewalk, and its driver ran away, possibly entering the Clinton Blue Line station, according to a source. He was described as a Black male wearing a white shirt with blue pants. About ten minutes later, CTA cameras recorded the West Loop suspect walking through the Jackson Red Line station, which connects to the Blue Line downtown.
Police said the minivan was reported stolen shortly after 9 a.m. by a man who left it legally parked in the 6600 block of South Perry. The van’s owner still had the vehicle’s keys, according to CPD.
Anyone with information about the suspect should call Area Three detectives at 312-744-8261 and reference case #JF-409840. Anonymous tips can also be submitted online at cpdtip.com.
During a press conference on Monday morning, a police official said the department had found no connections between Sunday’s West Loop incident and a similar abduction attempt on the same block of Sangamon Street last month. Among the differences, police said, were that Sunday’s attack involved one man while the August attempt involved three people.