When David Guerrero heard screams coming from a UIC dormitory bathroom Monday morning, he didn't think twice about running to help.
"I ran down the hallway and to the girl's bathroom and asked if everything is OK," Guerrero said. "I heard screams so I entered. When I entered I saw the perpetrator in the corner and I saw the victim clearly scared."
Guerrero, a 19-year-old UIC freshman studying financial planning, grabbed the man and held him outside until police arrived. "I was holding him and telling everyone in the dorms, 'Call police, call security,' and thankfully everybody helped out," he said.
On Tuesday, 28-year-old Tavares Humphries was charged with attempted murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, battery of a police officer and residential burglary. Police say Humphries choked the victim to the point of unconsciousness.
UIC authorities allege Humphries, of the 3300 block of West Lexington Street, attacked the student just after 10 a.m. Monday at the Commons South residence hall.
The five-story residence hall, at 700 S. Halsted St., houses about 190 undergraduate students, according to UIC’s web site.
Dorm residents, including Guerrero, heard the attack and others called campus police. Guerrero said the suspect appeared to be high on drugs.
"I hope he gets a really long sentence," he said.
Guerrero said his first instinct to help originates from his father, a police officer who always taught him to help other people.
