Man held without bond in kidnapping of 4

Two woman and two teenage girls escaped from a man who allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted them after one of them chewed through the ropes that bound them, authorities said.

Authorities have charged 34-year-old Jimmie Smith of Chicago with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and four counts each of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

Smith was arrested after the four -- three sisters and a teenage friend -- got away after 12 hours when he went to spend the night with his girlfriend, the sisters' mother. Smith had allegedly made the girls call their mother while he was holding them to lie about where they were.

Smith was being held Friday without bond at the Cook County jail. Calls to the public defender's officer were not immediately returned on Friday.

Authorities said the ordeal began last Saturday morning when a 14-year-old friend spent the night at the sisters' South Side home. The sisters are ages 14, 21, and 22.

Cook County State's Attorney Ramon Moore said the sisters' friend rebuffed an offer by Smith to pay $100 for sex. He then allegedly let his pit bull dog bite her for refusing him until the 22-year-old sister stepped in and fled with the girl to a basement bedroom.

Smith kicked in the door and then used ripped bed sheets to tie their hands of the four before taking the 22-year-old sister into a bedroom, where he assaulted her, Moore said.

Authorities said Smith later drove the four to a house in the Chicago suburb of Harvey where he tied them up again, this time with ropes.

It was at the Harvey home where more sexual assaults allegedly took place, including a sexual assault of one of the 14-year olds.

Moore said Smith had a gun and twice fired it at the 22-year-old sister after removing all but one bullet from its chamber.

When Smith left Saturday night to go back to Chicago to be with the sisters' mother, the four escaped when the 22-year-old chewed through the ropes he had used to tie them up