April 01--A foreign tourist was attacked and sexually abused by a teen who followed her off a CTA bus, but a good Samaritan heard the woman's screams, chased the suspect and pointed him out to police, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.
Devin Bermudez, 33, was helping his two young children prepare for bed shortly before 8 p.m. Monday when he and his wife heard the screams in the small lobby of their West Town four-flat. His wife, Amanda, said she called 911 as her husband ran out of their home without any shoes -- startling the suspect, who had pinned the woman down, with his shouts.
As the suspect ran, Bermudez, a recreational runner who competes in half-marathons, chased him, keeping pace with the teen even though he was wearing a dress shirt, his work khakis and socks.
"I wasn't exactly planning on jumping into action," he said jokingly about not wearing shoes.
The suspect ran west several blocks, went down an alley and behind a garage, where Bermudez cornered him.
Bermudez backed off when the teen told him he had a gun and started reaching into his green jacket, but he kept an eye on the suspect as he jumped several fences.
Bermudez flagged down arriving officers, pointing to where he saw the suspect run between two houses in the 800 block of North Fairfield Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Ledarius Johnson, 18, was arrested hiding on a porch. Police identified him as a Four Corner Hustler gang member who had a tattoo on his face saying "Trust None."
At the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Johnson entered bond court Thursday saying "How you doing? Good afternoon" in a menacing tone.
"Are you OK?" Judge Donald Panarese Jr. asked Johnson, who is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
The judge later set his bail at $500,000.
Prosecutors said Johnson and the woman, 47, were riding on a CTA bus and exited at the same stop shortly before 8 p.m. Monday.
As the woman entered the building where she was staying with a cousin, Johnson grabbed her hair and forced her inside the foyer, said Assistant State's Attorney Lesley Gool. He pushed her down onto the stairs, got on top of her and covered her mouth with his hands while groping her, she said.
The woman was crying out for help. Johnson squeezed her neck, cutting off her breathing and almost causing her to pass out, Gool said.
The woman tried to give Johnson her purse and cellphone, but he continued the attack until the upstairs neighbor chased him off, Gool said. The woman suffered cuts on her face and bruising on her neck and legs, the prosecutor said.
The day after the attack, the woman thanked her neighbor, embracing him and asking permission to take a photo with him to send to her husband, Bermudez said.
Word of his good deed quickly spread, particularly through the Facebook page for the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Watch. Other members of the online group have hit him up with offers for "tacos, drinks and more tacos," he said.
But Bermudez said he did only what most people would do.
"I think it's been a little overblown," he said. "I'd like to think a good majority of people who heard a woman screaming like that would try to help. I'm just glad everyone's safe, and we caught the guy."
sschmadeke@tribpub.com
