Trans woman raped near CTA Pink Line station in Lawndale, prosecutors say

The CTA Pulaski station on the Pink Line | Google maps

Officers responding to a call of a man loitering at a CTA station in Lawndale instead arrived to hear cries for help from a transgender woman who was being sexually assaulted.

When officers went to investigate the cries for help earlier this week, they found 33-year-old Karan Brown trying to leave the gangway and a 34-year-old Oak Park woman curled up on the ground sobbing, Cook County prosecutors said at Brown’s hearing Wednesday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Brown was not in court for the initial hearing Wednesday, because he was undergoing a psychological evaluation at St. Anthony Hospital, a Chicago police officer testified.

When he appeared at a bail review hearing Thursday on the charges, Brown shook his head throughout much of prosecutor’s testimony, rolled his eyes and made various gestures indicating he didn’t agree with what was said.

Karan Brown

Prosecutors said the officers initially responded Monday when CTA employees called about Brown loitering at the Pulaski Pink Line Station.

Brown left the station before police arrived and encountered the woman on a bicycle outside the station. Brown and the woman, who had never met before, started a conversation and Brown invited her to hang out at a house next to the CTA station, prosecutors said.

When they entered a gangway to go to the home, Brown grabbed her by the neck, took off his pants and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. Brown also bit her twice on the neck, leaving bite marks, during the assault, prosecutors said.

The woman saw officers arriving at the station during the attack and began crying out for help, leading Brown to stop the assault and attempt to flee, prosecutors said. Officers heard her cries and stopped Brown as he was leaving the gangway and saw the woman on the ground in tears.

Brown faces a count of aggravated criminal sexual assault in the attack, prosecutors said.

The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment and Brown was taken into custody.

Brown has four previous felony convictions, including for armed robbery and drug possession, prosecutors said.

An assistant public defender for Brown said he was married, had most recently been working as a sale associate and was enrolled in a GED program.

Judge Charles Beach II upheld his earlier decision to hold Brown without bail at the hearing on Thursday. With the ruling, Brown threw up his hands and immediately walked out of the courtroom to a holding area for detainees.