2 Assaults Near Rainbow Beach Have Neighbors On Alert

SOUTH SHORE — Neighbors of Rainbow Beach are on guard after two recent sexual assaults in the area, which police say were likely committed by the same person.

In both instances, a man attacked two women from behind and groped them this month near Rainbow Beach, according to a community alert issued by the Police Department this week.

The first attack took place the morning of June 13, when the man threw a woman to the ground and assaulted her in the 3100 block of East 79th Street, police said. The second attack took place the evening of June 15 in the 7700 block of South South Shore Drive, and the woman attacked in that incident fled after a struggle with the man, police said.

The attacker is a Black man of “medium weight, medium complexion and short hair,” 30-40 years old and 5-foot-8 to 6 feet tall, police said.

Police have released no updates or sketches of the man since issuing the alert Monday, and detectives are still investigating, a police spokesperson said Thursday.

Neighbor Renee Nowlin, of South Chicago, appreciated the alert, which helps to publicize the recent attacks and can keep residents alert when in the area, she said.

A survivor of domestic violence, Nowlin said more mental health resources are needed in the community — to support the women who were attacked and to limit future assaults.

In addition to the South Shore assaults, Nowlin cited the cases of Leon Jackson and Willie Wright — who have cycled through arrests and court hearings relating to their abuse and harassment of North Side neighbors — as examples of the impacts of lacking local mental health services.

“All this going on is an effect, a consequence, of services and resources being cut,” Nowlin said. “It’s unfortunate, but I think we’re going to continue to see [attacks like] this. I’m happy [the South Shore assaults] are being reported and acknowledged, and the police are being proactive as much as they possibly can.”

Nowlin encouraged survivors of the South Shore attacks and sexual violence elsewhere in the city to use the 211 Metro Chicago hotline to take advantage of the resources that are available nearby.

Programs near Rainbow Beach related to mental health, sexual assault and crisis services listed in the 211 registry include:

• Sexual assault counseling through YWCA Metropolitan Chicago.
• The Sexual Wellness Clinic at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, 5837 S. Maryland Ave. in Hyde Park.
• South Shore therapy groups at Lawrence Hall, 1818 E. 71st St.
• Behavioral health programs through Jackson Park Hospital in South Shore, the ACCESS Community Health Network in South Chicago and Chicago Family Health Center in Calumet Heights.

Block Club has reached out to the Park District to ask whether the agency has deployed more park security or requested more police in the area since the attacks.

A representative of the Rainbow Beach park advisory council could not be reached for comment.