Police are warning area residents after a woman was sexually assaulted while walking in the Wicker Park neighborhood on the North Side early Monday.
About 1:55 a.m., the 25-year-old was walking in the 1700 block of West Pierce when a man approached her from behind, pushed her to the ground and sexually assaulted her near an alley, police said.
The woman cried out for help and heard a passerby “verbally challenge” the suspect, who then ran away, according to a community alert from police.
She was taken to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, where her condition had stabilized, police said.
The suspect is described as a 25 to 40-year-old black man between 5-foot-8 and 6 feet tall and 180 to 220 pounds, police said. He was wearing dark pants and a dark coat and might have been armed with a handgun.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Area North detectives at (312) 744-8200.