A rash of sexual assaults in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood has Chicago police urging women to remain on high alert. At least four women report being attacked since the beginning of the month.
The latest occurred Monday, near West 118th and South Throop streets, when a 26-year-old woman said a man approached her, put a gun to her head and forced her into an alley.
"He had me in a choke-hold and told me if I cooperated he would let me live," the woman, who wished to not be identified, told NBC Chicago on Wednesday.
She said that after the man raped her, he barked orders at her.
"He told me, 'Count to 100. If you look behind you, I'm going to shoot you in your head. You better not turn around,' she recalled as her eyes swelled with tears.
Police issued a community alert Wednesday after the latest victim reported the crime. She said the department hasn't done enough to warn the community about the attacks.
"If you don't know, what can you do," she said.
She said she's speaking up because she wants her attacker to know that she's not afraid of him and she wants to give other women strength and hope.
On or around Dec. 2, a teenaged girl told police she was raped by a man in a similar fashion: she was approached, had a gun put to her head and taken to an alley where she was assaulted.
In that case, the 16-year-old described her attacker as an African-American man who stood about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed about 220 pounds. She told police the man had a light complexion and was wearing a black mask, dark jeans, and light brown "Timberland" boots.
On Dec. 11, another women reported that she was attacked in the 0-100 block of West 103rd Street. No other details in that case are available.
A 24-year-old woman told police she was attacked on Dec. 15 just as she was closing her garage on 112nd Street between South Michigan and Indiana avenues.
The man grabbed the woman from behind, placed a gun to her head and forced her to walk east through the alley. He then sexually assaulted her and, as he left, told her, "Count to 100," police said.
In that case, the woman said she was attacked by a black man who stood between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds. She said her attacker had a dark brown complexion and was wearing a black scarf, black sweat pants, black sweater and black gym shoes.
