A teenager is facing sexual abuse charges for groping a woman on a Forest Glen neighborhood sidewalk earlier this month on the Northwest Side.
The boy, 17, has been charged with one felony count of criminal sexual abuse or force, police said in a statement. Police did not release his name because he is a juvenile.
On Oct. 1, a 50-year-old woman was walking east in the 4300 block of West Peterson when a male walked up behind her about 9:30 a.m. and slapped her on the buttocks, police said.
The male then ran away, but as the female walked back, he returned and fondled her genital and breast areas, police said at the time. He then ran south.
A short time later, witnesses told authorities they saw a man fitting the suspect’s description running naked along an elevated jogging path, police said. Police later identified the teen and arrested him Friday morning.
His court information was not immediately known.
A police source said a similar incident was reported that same day near that location. The suspect in that incident fit the description as the teen arrested on Friday, the source said. The teen has only been charged in connection with the 9:30 a.m. assault.
Before the arrest was made, Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th) issued a community alert asking businesses to share their surveillance video and for residents to contact police if they had any information about the incident.
“I want to thank all of the Officers and Supervisors in the 17th District and the Detective Division, Area North, who relentlessly followed up on the investigation and to all the attention given to the community in the wake of these attacks,” Laurino said in the statement. “Thanks also to the officers in the 16th District, the Helicopter Unit and the Cook County Forest Preserve Police for their hard work and great help with this investigation.”
