One factor associated with two attacks of female joggers is the proximity to secluded areas. Arlington Heights is not known for having many large secluded areas, but a small wooded area with McDonald Creek winding through large backyards provided a possible natural area of seclusion for the offender in the latest attack of a female jogger. McDonald Creek Parkway, just north of the intersection of Hintz Road and Haddow Avenue, provides a reasonably large area to hide in backyards bordered by Kerry Brook Lane and Brittany Court to the west, Burr Oak Drive to the north, and Vista Road to the east.
A culvert for McDonald Creek under Hintz Road also provides a place for an offender to hide before or after an attack. The parkway, woods and creek also provide natural surroundings that facilitate staying hidden while fleeing. McDonald Creek drains toward Camelot park, which is just southeast of the crime scene at Hintz Road and Haddow Avenue.
The first known attack at Lake Arlington in September also occurred near a wooded area.
Police responded about 5:30 a.m. Friday, October 11, 2013 to a report that a woman was attacked near the intersection. At least six police cars were on the scene during the pre-dawn time period immediately after the crime.
Police received a report that an adult female jogger was attacked in the area of Hintz Road and Haddow Avenue. As the victim was jogging, a male wearing dark clothing grabbed her and forced her to the ground. The victim struggled briefly with the suspect and was aided by a good Samaritan. The suspect ran from the scene. The victim was not injured. The Good Samaritan was also not injured.
The offender was described as a male, approximately 6’ with a thin build, and wearing dark clothing
The crime is reported to have occurred at about 5:30 a.m.
Sunrise was at 7:01 a.m. Friday morning with the break of dawn at 6:33 a.m. The September attack was also pre-dawn.
Friday’s attack was the second incident in two weeks in which a female jogger was attacked in Arlington Heights. The incidents occurred within a mile and a half of each other.
On September 26, 2013, at approximately 6:00 a.m., an adult female was jogging at Lake Arlington Park when a male wearing dark clothing grabbed her from behind. The offender dragged her off the jogging path and forced her to the ground. After a brief struggle, the offender ran away.
The Arlington Heights Police Department is seeking witnesses and is requesting assistance in identifying the offender.
The offender in both incidents is described as a male, approximately 6 feet tall, with a thin build, and wearing dark clothing.
The female victim was not injured, and could not assist with a sketch of the offender at this time. The attack occurred on the north side of Lake Arlington, which is where the wooded area is located.
A female jogger was also grabbed by a male subject on August 18, 2013 near Euclid Avenue and Dryden Avenue, and near Oakton Street and Beverly Avenue during the same run through the neighborhood. A suspect that lives near Dryden and Kensington was arrested.
The Cardinal has been a strong critic of Arlington Heights police using secret military grade encrypted radios because neighborhood watch groups and every day citizens cannot monitor police communications, cannot receive early alerts about dangers in their neighborhoods, cannot be alert to fleeing suspects and therefore cannot be the eyes and ears for community policing issues.
The Cardinal believes that criminals have an advantage over police and the community when citizens are kept in the dark and do not have real time criminal activity awareness.
Some police agencies in the United States actually encourage citizen monitoring of police radio communications, provide smartphone apps, or provide real-time or near real-time dispatch information directly from Computer Aided Dispatch systems to public web pages.
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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Why haven’t the police or the media released the details of the race and color of this offender? How on earth are the citizens of this community supposed to be on the looout for trouble if they don’t know what to look for? This is a COMPLETE failure by the police to effectively communicate CRUCIAL information because they would rather be politically correct. Meanwhile the hard working women of Arlington heights are being told not to jog or where head phones. I guess it’s easier to allow them to get raped then to say a black guy, hispanic guy, or a white guy, is attacking women is Arlington heights? Great job PC police.