CHICAGO — An Uptown man accused of trying to sexually assault his neighbor and trying to sexually assault another woman inside a North Side bar has reached a plea deal that allows him to avoid prison time.
Boney Patel, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted criminal sexual assault before Judge Laura Ayala-Gonzalez on Thursday, according to court records. She sentenced him to concurrent terms of 943 days plus 30 months of probation. The prison sentence will be satisfied by the time he spent in custody, much of it on electronic monitoring, since being arrested.
In December 2020, prosecutors accused Patel of groping five women over several days 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.
Officials said the week-long series of incidents began a week before Christmas when Patel’s neighbor woke up December 18 after a night out and found him inside her apartment on the 4000 block of North Kenmore.
The next day, Patel allegedly pushed his way into the woman’s apartment and started talking with her. Another neighbor helped the woman get him out. And the day after that, Patel was accused of grabbing a woman’s buttocks at a bus stop on the 4000 block of North Sheridan, according to CPD records.
Then, on December 20, Patel “knocked aggressively” on his female neighbor’s door around 10 p.m. When the woman cracked the door slightly, Patel forced his way in, tried to grab her robe, and threw her onto her bed, prosecutors said.
The woman managed to get away and ran into her bathroom to call the police. But Patel followed her and pushed her into the tub, and the two struggled for control of the woman’s phone, according to the initial allegations.
Once again, the woman got away and began knocking on neighbors’ doors to get help. One of them opened their door, yelled at Patel to leave, and then let the woman call police with their phone, officials said.
Chicago police officers arrived and tracked the woman’s phone to a nearby bar, where they allegedly found it in Patel’s possession. Police took a home invasion report, but the woman decided not to have Patel arrested because she feared he would retaliate, prosecutors said.
A few days later, on Christmas Eve, Patel allegedly grabbed the buttocks of three women as they stood in line at a local Walgreens. And on Christmas Day, another woman who lives in Patel’s building reported that he grabbed her buttocks as she walked up to her apartment.
The home invasion subsequently changed her mind about pursuing charges against Patel. Police arrested him on Sunday afternoon.
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 women’s restroom at Holiday Club, 4000 North Sheridan, prosecutors said.
A woman who went to the club to celebrate her 26th birthday with a friend on December 23, 2020, told police that she went to the restroom and was confronted by Patel when she tried to close the stall door. Prosecutors said he grabbed her buttocks and hips with both hands and tried to pull her back into the stall as she pushed him and tried to escape. She broke free and notified staff members, then went home to call the police.
Prosecutors said the bar’s surveillance footage showed Patel following the victim into the women’s room and walking out after she exited.
Two weeks after police arrested Patel, he was charged with grabbing the buttocks of a nurse as she checked his blood pressure in the Cook County jail medical center. Judge Ayala-Gonzalez handed him a third concurrent sentence of 943 days plus 30 months of probation in that case.
Defense attorney Richard Fenbert represented Patel. During one of Patel’s bail hearings, Fenbert said Patel scored a 35 on his ACT, received a physics degree from the University of Nebraska, and graduated from Emery Law School before going to work as a patent attorney. His mental health began deteriorating early in 2020, Fenbert said.
Prosecutors dropped several felony charges in their plea deal with Patel, including home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, robbery, and residential burglary.
Ayala-Gonzalez, the judge, ordered him to register as a sex offender, submit DNA for indexing by law enforcement, and participate in treatment programs as part of his probation.