A man who has spent much of the last two decades in prison has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a parking lot in Logan Square in 2012.
Oscar N. Aguilar, 36, has been a suspect in the June 16, 2012, attack in the 1700 block of North Lawndale Avenue since at least 2015, when the woman who was attacked identified him, but detectives were unable to secure charges against him at the time, prosecutors said Tuesday. Aguilar, who previously has served time in prison for a half-dozen crimes dating to at least 2001, was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail in a hearing before Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas after being charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, according to court records.
Aguilar, of the 4700 block of West Warwick Avenue, attacked the woman, who was 32 at the time, as she was walking home from a bar about 4 a.m., according to prosecutors and police records.
Aguilar pulled up in a car and asked the woman if she needed a ride home, and she accepted but jumped out of the car at a red light after she started to feel uncomfortable, prosecutors said Tuesday. The woman started walking away, but Aguilar circled the block in his car, and she hid under a parked truck.
Aguilar got out of his truck and started looking for the woman, who saw him and ran away, with Aguilar pursuing her, prosecutors said. Aguilar caught up with the woman in a gravel parking lot on Lawndale, pushed her down and slammed her head against the ground.
Aguilar removed the woman’s clothing, raped her and forced her to perform a sex act on him, prosecutors said.
A witness heard the woman calling for help and ran toward her screams, prosecutors said. The witness saw Aguilar standing over the woman, who was on the ground, half-naked, and yelled at Aguilar, who then ran off.
The witness covered the woman with his shirt, then called police, prosecutors said.
The woman was taken to Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, where she received treatment for a serious head injury and scratches and bruises elsewhere on her body, prosecutors said.
A sexual assault kit from the attack was sent to Illinois State Police, and the agency completed its analysis on April 17, 2015, prosecutors said. A mixture of two male DNA profiles were found, and Aguilar’s profile cannot be excluded as one the men, according to a search of a criminal DNA index, prosecutors said.
The victim looked at a photographic lineup of possible suspects and identified Aguilar as her attacker, and the witness also identified him in a photograph, prosecutor said. Aguilar was arrested May 28, 2015, but had to be released without charges because detectives had not completed their investigation, prosecutors said.
In March, detectives were able to finish their investigation and issued an alert for Aguilar to be taken in for questioning in the case. He was arrested about 10:15 a.m. Monday in the 5000 block of West Van Buren Street, according to police records. He’s due back in court June 20.
baiduhai’s Steve Schmadeke contributed.