CHICAGO — A Wisconsin man who was convicted of sexual assault in 2016 attacked two women on the DePaul University campus Thursday afternoon, trying to drag one into a restroom and choking another until she felt she was going to die, prosecutors said.
Frank Redd, 26, of Madison, Wisconsin, was ordered held on $1 million bail by Judge David Kelly during a bond hearing Friday afternoon. Redd must post 10% of the bail amount to get out of jail.
The crime spree began on the school’s Lincoln Park campus around 3:45 p.m., when a 28-year-old woman asked Redd for help finding a classroom in the Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 North Kenmore.
Redd agreed to take her to the room, but the woman realized that he didn’t know where he was going, so she thanked him and turned to walk away, prosecutor Sarah Dale-Schmidt said. As she turned, Redd grabbed her from behind, covering her nose and mouth with one hand and wrapping his other arm around her chest so she could not escape, according to the allegations.
Claiming to have a knife and threatening to hurt the woman if she screamed, Redd dragged her toward a nearby restroom, Dale-Schmidt said. The victim managed to grab a wall so Redd could not get her into the restroom, then dropped to the floor, breaking Redd’s grip on her, according to Dale-Schmidt.
Redd ran away when the woman started screaming for help.
About 15 minutes later, a 22-year-old DePaul student struck another car as she tried to park in a school parking garage in the 2300 block of North Sheffield. She stepped out to inspect the damage and encountered Redd, who offered to help her dislodge her car from the other vehicle, Dale-Schmidt said.
Redd allegedly climbed into the woman’s car, put both hands around her neck, and squeezed until the woman became lightheaded and felt like she was losing consciousness.
With the woman “believing she was dying,” Redd threatened to choke her harder if she screamed, Dale-Schimdt continued.
He eventually loosened his grip and ran away when she yelled for help, but he left a book bag in the woman’s car that contained his driver’s license and other IDs, said Dale-Schmidt.
Then, about 15 minutes later, a student reported that a man stole her book bag, which contained about $2,000 worth of electronics, from a Depaul building in the 2200 block of North Sheffield.
Witnesses informed officers that the thief was still in the area and pointed them toward Redd. Cops arrested him.
He is charged with two counts of unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and theft.
Judge Kelly ordered Redd to go on electronic monitoring if he posts the six-figure bail amount. A defense request to allow Redd to return to Wisconsin to await trial was “absolutely denied,” Kelly said.
Redd is a registered sex offender in Wisconsin and Illinois, according to the states’ online records.