Man dies in crash after sex assault, robbery and kidnapping rampage, police say
A man was killed in a rollover crash early Friday after a series of attacks where he sexually assaulted a woman and robbed and kidnapped three others in the city’s South Loop, Chicago police said.
The chain of events began when the unidentified man entered a residential building in the 1500 block of South Wabash around midnight. According to an email sent to residents of the Wabash Avenue building where the spree began, the attacker accosted a resident in the building’s parking lot and used their keys to access the building.
The man approached a 48-year-old woman and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint, according to police. While the assault was occurring, two 27-year-old women approached. Holding his knife, the man forced all three women into a condo and robbed them, police said.
Another man, also 27, stumbled upon the scene inside the condo and was robbed at knifepoint, police said.
At that time, the woman who had been assaulted was able to get away. She was later taken to Rush Hospital in fair condition, according to police.
All three victims held at knifepoint were forced into one of the women’s cars by the offender, who drove them to a restaurant in the 700 block of West 31st Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood, police said.
He allegedly forced the kidnapped man into the restaurant and took money from the register. In the process, he cut the shoulder of a different 36-year-old man, who later refused medical attention.
The kidnapped man stayed inside the restaurant while the offender returned to the car with the other two women and drove off, according to police. The car smashed into a police squad car before fleeing the scene.
Moments later, the fleeing vehicle crashed in the 3000 block of South Pitney Court and rolled over. The driver was thrown from the wrecked vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The two victims inside were transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office didn’t immediately release the man’s identity.
