CHICAGO (WBBM/CBS) ―Police are offering more information today about the suspected rapist they’re looking for on the Southwest Side.
A bulletin broadcast on police radio called for officers to watch for a green 1996 Chrysler minivan with a temporary plate, 265L796. It said the suspect is believed to be armed with either a knife or a gun.
So far, the man has targeted the Southwest Side, in the Wrightwood and Ashburn neighborhoods.
He’s wanted for two rapes, one of a 17-year-old girl at 82nd and Sacramento last Thursday and another the next day, of a 16-year-old at 79th and Maplewood.
He’s also believed to be the same man who exposed himself to an 18-year-old woman at 79th and Pulaski last Sunday night.
In each of the cases, police say the man shows up in a green minivan. In a fourth case, police say the man told a girl he’d give her $100 to get her to come closer. She got away.
On Monday, neighbors who saw an artist’s rendering of the suspected rapist were worried.
“Our victims in all four incidents indicated to us that the offender would pull his vehicle up to where they were standing, engage them in conversation for them to approach,” Chicago Police Sgt. John Nowakowski said. “And in two incidents, when the victims got really close to the van, the offender grabbed them and physically pulled them into the van.”
At both locations where police say teens were raped, there happened to be schools nearby. Police don’t think the suspect is targeting schools, but they say the victim in Friday’s case was walking to school when a man attacked her.
“I know a number of kids that walk to school every single day, so now I’m concerned for them because this is shocking to hear,” one neighbor said.
Anyone with information on the cases is asked to call (312) 747-8380 or (312) 747-8224.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
