A man charged with sexually assaulting a woman earlier this month in the stairway of a Lincoln Park apartment building was identified to authorities by a former girlfriend and a state worker after a photo from surveillance footage was released to the public.
Both individuals recognized Reggie Brown, 31, from a photo taken from Ring doorbell camera that allegedly showed him walking in the area minutes after the woman who was assaulted called police, Cook County prosecutors said in court Friday.
About 3 a.m. on July 8, the 28-year-old woman was returning to an an apartment in the 1900 block of North Sheffield Avenue when Brown came up behind her, put his hand around her neck and pushed her inside the building as she was opening her door, prosecutors said.
Offender Charged with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault and Unlawful Restraint @ChicagoCAPS18 (Near North) @Area3Detectives #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/ES423BqOrp
— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) July 28, 2023
He told her to “shut up” and “stay quiet...shhhhh,’ according to a Chicago police report.
Brown sexually assaulted the woman and then went through her purse, taking some cash before leaving, prosecutors said.
The woman called a friend and then 911.
When investigators released a photo of a suspect to the public, Brown’s former girlfriend and a state Department of Children and Family Services worker who had prior contact with him identified Brown as the person in the photo, prosecutors said.
The woman who was attacked also allegedly identified Brown in a photo array.
Brown, of the 1500 block of South Drake Avenue, was arrested Wednesday. In custody, he allegedly admitted to choking the woman, which he described as “playing” around.
An assistant public defender for Brown said her client had been mistakenly identified and argued that the quality of the surveillance footage and whether the area was particularly well lit weren’t immediately known.
Judge Mary Marubio noted the multiple identifications of Brown and the nature of the attack in her decision to order him held without bail.
He was expected back in court Aug. 16.
