Police warn public about suspect groping women on popular suburban trail

FRANKFORT - Police are searching for a man who allegedly keeps grabbing women on a popular walking trail in suburban Frankfort.

Police say the suspect is familiar with the area and acts as if he is there to walk or run.

The suspect has attacked two women in the past two weeks. The latest attack happened at 9:45 Wednesday morning on the Old Plank Road Trail.

Savannah lives nearby and she did not know anything about the attacks.

"That’s scary and this area is supposed to be safe,” she said.

Frankfort police say as the woman went east on the trail near the pond at Prairie Park when she saw an unknown male ahead of her on the path. The woman passed the Indian Boundary Passage and that is when she says the man grabbed her buttocks and ran away.

Frankfort police say the man fits the same description from a similar incident on October 23.

The suspect is described as African American, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10, with an athletic build. He had on a red and grey tight shirt, black spandex pants and a stocking cap.

"I used to go on that trail, but I wouldn't go now and I wouldn't go alone,” Savannah said.

That is the same advice police are giving, to use the buddy system, as they continue to investigate.