Man charged with attacking woman on Illinois Prairie Path in Wheaton

SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE - A man charged with attacking a woman Monday while she was walking on the Illinois Prairie Path in west suburban Wheaton was ordered held on a $200,000 bond Wednesday.

Matthew D. Grover, 31, was interviewed by detectives and confessed to Monday’s attack, and to attacking another woman in 2016, according to the DuPage County sheriff’s office.

Around 3:30 p.m. Monday, the woman was walking on the path between County Farm Road and Pleasant Hill Road, north of the intersection of Peter Road and Churchill Road in unincorporated Wheaton. That’s when Grover approached from behind and grabbed her, police said.

The woman got away unharmed, and Grover ran away toward Churchill and Peter Roads, police said. He was placed under surveillance Tuesday and detectives discovered one of his family member’s 2006 blue Toyota Sienna minivan was the vehicle used to drive away from the area after the attack.

When confronted with details of a similar incident investigated by the sheriff’s office in September, Grover also confessed to the attack, police said. Charges for the 2016 incident are pending the results of DNA testing.

Grover, a Winfield resident, was charged with one felony count of aggravated battery on public way and one felony count of unlawful restraint, police said.

Detectives also suspect he was involved in at least three other incidents that are under investigation, police said.

Grover was ordered held at the DuPage County Jail on a $200,000 bond Wednesday, according to DuPage County state’s attorney’s spokesman Paul Darrah.