Chicago prosecutors have charged a man with posing as a rideshare driver to sexually assault a woman in the Gold Coast earlier this year, one of two similar cases that police linked in a recent crime pattern warning.
Alexander Ramos, 40, is accused of attacking a 32-year-old woman who called a rideshare early on March 30 after a night out with friends. Prosecutors said Ramos pulled up outside the Hangge Uppe nightclub, 14 West Elm Street, and lured the woman into his Honda CR-V.
Once inside his car, prosecutors said, the victim drifted in and out of consciousness as Ramos drove her around, eventually stopping in the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive. She woke to find him sexually assaulting her and prosecutors said he continued the attack after she resisted.
The woman managed to snap photos of Ramos inside and outside the vehicle, prosecutors said. CPD surveillance cameras also captured footage of the SUV traveling around the city on the night of the assault, prosecutors said. The SUV is allegedly registered to Ramos’ wife, and the victim later identified him in a photo lineup.
Ramos is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault during the commission of another felony, aggravated kidnapping with bodily harm, and unlawful restraint. Judge John Hock ordered him detained, saying Ramos “admitted” to the crime during the investigation, prosecutors said.
Police issued a community alert late last month linking the attack to another sexual assault involving a Hispanic man driving an SUV who lured a woman into his vehicle by posing as a rideshare driver in Old Town early on July 19. Ramos is not charged in that case.
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