Sex offender from Des Plaines attacked a teenager in May, police say
A registered sex offender from Des Plaines was arrested again after DNA evidence tied him to the May kidnapping and rape of a teenager in that suburb, authorities said Friday.
Christopher J. Grygiel, 40, of the 2200 block of Webster Lane, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual assault. He was being held without bail Friday after a hearing in Cook County circuit court.
Grygiel is on the sex offender registry due to a 2002 conviction for predatory criminal sexual assault involving a 5-year-old victim, state police records indicate.
Grygiel also was arrested in December following an attack on a teenager in Mount Prospect.
Grygiel was arrested in the latest case Wednesday, nearly a month after the attack in Des Plaines.
A 16-year-old girl was walking on the 1100 block of East Howard Avenue, near Lake Park, about 2 a.m. May 11 when a man approached and followed her, police said in a news release.
The girl tried to walk away quickly but tripped and fell, police said.
As the girl struggled with her assailant, he threatened to hurt her, police said. He then forced her into an SUV in a nearby parking lot and fought with her, court documents indicate.
The girl called 911, but her attacker grabbed the phone and turned it off, documents indicate.
As the attacker drove the SUV to the Barrington area, the girl continued to fight back, documents indicate.
He stopped near a wooded area and sexually assaulted her, documents indicate.
Afterward, the attacker drove the girl back to Des Plaines and released her, giving back her phone, according to the documents. Once free, she called 911 again.
According to police, the girl described her attacker as a man with a beard and a buzz-cut hairstyle who wore a silver-colored watch.
DNA evidence pointed to Grygiel as the attacker, police said. His DNA was available for comparison because of the prior sex crime conviction, police said.
In the December attack, Grygiel approached a 15-year-old girl who was walking near Mount Prospect Plaza and tried to take a shopping bag from her, police said. She held onto the bag and fled.
Grygiel was charged that time with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct after a police investigation into the confrontation.
Grygiel is scheduled to appear in court on the latest charges June 23.