A Logan Square man who is accused of pressing his body against three women on CTA trains was nabbed after a former co-worker recognized his photo from a police alert and detectives matched his driver’s license photo to surveillance video, according to court records and Cook County prosecutors.
Noor Jalil, 53, is charged with sexually abusing the victims in two incidents last week and a third incident in July.
One victim reported discovering what appeared to be semen on her pants leg and sandal after she exited the train after a man had rubbed up against her buttocks, prosecutors said. Her clothes were sent to the Illinois State Police lab for DNA testing.
Another victim was 7 months pregnant at the time.
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Jalil, of the 2400 block of North Kedzie Avenue, is charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, three counts of aggravated battery to a transit passenger and one count of unlawful restraint.
Prosecutors said Jalil’s Ventra card showed him on the Blue Line on Sept. 2 and the Red Line on Sept. 3 near the times of the two most recent incidents. Jalil also admitted he may have accidentally rubbed up against other riders, prosecutors said.
Judge Joseph Panarese Jr. set bail at $100,000 for Jalil, whom prosecutors said has no previous criminal background.
Jalil’s attorney said his client is a U.S. citizen with a master’s degree in finance from the University of New Haven in Connecticut who recently became unemployed.
At the court hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Glen Runk said the most recent victim, 23, was traveling on a Red Line train when a man entered the car at the Clybourn station and stood directly behind her until he left at the Chicago station. He rubbed up against her buttocks, but the woman didn’t notice the apparent semen on her clothing until she exited at the Grand Avenue station, Runk said.
CTA surveillance video confirmed the woman’s account, and police distributed a community alert with a still photo of the assailant.
A former co-worker of Jalil called police to say the photo appeared to be of Jalil, according to court records. Detectives pulled Jalil’s driver’s license records and confirmed “the strong resemblance” between that photo and the surveillance image of the assailant.
The two earlier victims also recognized the photo as the same man who had abused them, Runk said. Both later identified Jalil in police lineups as their assailant, he said.
The first alleged incident happened around July 1 or 2 when a 44-year-old woman traveling on the Red Line reported Jalil came up behind her as she stood near a window, placed his arms on each side of her and pressed his body against hers, Runk said.
The woman was forced to crouch down and crawl under his arm in order to get away from Jalil, the prosecutor said.
Then on Sept. 2, a 33-year-old woman who was 7 months pregnant was traveling on a Blue Line train when Jalil allegedly stood behind her and rubbed his groin against her buttocks and hip. Police and court records show the Sept. 2 attack took place in the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue–in the area of the Blue Line’s Division Street stop–about 8:45 a.m.