A Cook County judge set a $60,000 cash bond Friday for a man previously held without bail and charged with three violent attacks against women during a two-week period–one rape and one attempted sexual assault in Chicago and another attempt in Forest Park.
Paul Cruikshank, 25, was arrested after allegedly following a woman off a CTA train in Forest Park on New Year’s Eve, choking her and attacking her with an ice pick. The 23-year-old Chicago woman fought him off, and police arrested Cruikshank as he attempted to board a bus.
Cruikshank is charged with the Jan. 31 attempt, an attempted sexual assault Jan. 18 of a 21-year-old college student in the 2100 block of North Sheffield Avenue and a rape Jan. 20 in the 3500 block of North Sheffield. In the Jan. 20 attack, police said, Cruikshank stole the 23-year-old victim’s camera, cell phone and jewelry and used her ATM card to withdraw $400.
On Jan. 4, Violence Court Judge Mary Margaret Brosnahan said Cruikshank, because of the rapid succession and the violence of the reported attacks, posed a danger to the public and ordered him held without bail.
Criminal Court Judge Marcus Salone ruled that Cruikshank, who does not have a criminal record, is presumed innocent until found guilty and therefore does not deserve to be held until his trial starts.
