Man charged with grabbing, touching woman on Blue Line platform

Jesse Winford, 29, of the 2700 block of West Harrison Street, was charged Wednesday with felony counts of criminal sexual abuse and aggravated battery in a public place. | Chicago police.

A Lawndale man was charged Wednesday in connection with grabbing, touching and stealing from a woman on a West Side Blue Line platform in December.

Jesse Winford, 29, of the 2700 block of West Harrison Street, was charged with felony counts of criminal sexual abuse and aggravated battery in a public place, according to Chicago Police.

About 8:20 a.m. on Dec. 6 an 18-year-old woman, who is a student, was walking up the east ramp at the Cicero Blue Line station when a man began to follow and harass her.

The man grabbed the woman from behind and inappropriately touched her, police said.

The woman tried to pull away and dropped her wallet, which the man picked up and ran away with, police said.

On March 21, a a Chicago Transit Authority employee recognized Winford from surveillance photos sent out in a community alert by CPD after the incident. Officers found Winford standing on a CTA platform about 4:35 a.m. and arrested him, police said.

The woman identified Winford through a photo array, police said.

Winford is scheduled to appear in Central Bond Court Thursday.