Suspect in downtown Palatine attack to remain in jail

A Cook County judge on Wednesday ordered a 26-year-old Palatine man held in custody while awaiting trial on charges alleging he grabbed a teenage girl and stole her cellphone Monday morning.

Kearve K. Williams, of the 1100 block of East Northwest Highway, is charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim 13 to 16 years old, and resisting arrest.

According to police, officers responded to a report of a juvenile calling for help at about 7 a.m. near the Metra station in downtown Palatine.

They found a girl in distress who reported being the victim of a robbery and a sexual offense by an unknown man, police said. She suffered nonlife-threatening injuries, was evaluated at the scene by the Palatine Fire Department and released to her parents, according to police.

Williams, who was arrested nearby later Monday morning, is scheduled to return to court March 6.