Elgin man guilty of attacking Fox River joggers

A 21-year-old Elgin man was found guilty Friday of attacking two women on the Fox River bike trail in Elgin in September and December 2009.

Judge Allen Anderson took less than 20 minutes to find Francisco Cruz of the 700 block of Jefferson Avenue guilty of aggravated battery in a public place and two counts of unlawful restraint.

The felonies carry prison terms of up to five years, but probation also is an option.

Cruz’s bond was revoked after the verdict and he was taken away in handcuffs. He will be sentenced Aug. 4.

During Friday’s bench trial, a 31-year-old elementary schoolteacher testified that Cruz grabbed her around the waist while she was jogging on the path near the Fox River north of Interstate 90 on Sept. 27. She screamed for him to stop and he eventually ran away to a beige car.

“He had this grin on his face like, ‘I’m going to get you.’ It was an evil look,” said the woman, who later identified Cruz in a lineup at the Elgin Police Department after making him open up his mouth. “I needed confirmation for myself by him doing that facial expression,” she said.

The second victim, a 20-year-old student, testified that Cruz hit her on the head at least three times with a sizable tree branch while she was jogging on Dec. 1. The woman was briefly knocked unconscious and woke up on her back with Cruz over her.

He also ran off into a beige car; the woman said she recognized him from going to school at Elgin High School and she found Cruz’s photo in a yearbook. She also picked him out of a police lineup.

Cruz’s attorney, Julio Valdez, argued that the initial composite sketch didn’t show the suspect to have a goatee and the entire prosecution was due to “mistaken identity.”

Anderson disagreed with the Assistant State’s Attorney Tom St. Jules’ argument that the tree branch was a deadly weapon and ruled that Cruz was not guilty of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated unlawful restraint.

Even if found guilty of those charges, though, Cruz would not have been eligible for a longer sentence.