Suspect arrested in Hammond sexual assaults

Authorities have arrested a suspect in two sexual assaults that happened within two weeks of each other in northwest Indiana.

Charges “directly related” to the sexual assaults were pending against the male suspect, whose name has been withheld because of his age, according to a statement from the Hammond Police Department.

“We want to release this information now to ease the minds of our citizens that this violent suspect has been removed from our streets,” Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said in the statement.

The victims, a juvenile girl and a 25-year-old woman, were outside walking when they were approached by a male who forced them into an ally and sexually assaulted them, police said. The incidents happened about noon July 26 in the 6700 block of Grand Avenue and about midnight Aug. 8 in the 7400 block of Arkansas Avenue.

Police did not release further details Thursday “due to the critical nature of this investigation,” but said they would provide an update at a news conference Monday morning.