Maywood man charged in attempted child abductions in Chicago and Oak Park

A Maywood man whom Chicago police believe sexually-assaulted a teenage girl in Austin last week has been arrested and charged with that crime.

The suspect, Shawn Stubblefield, is also charged in the attempted abduction of two Oak Park teen girls that occurred just two days after the attack in Austin. Oak Park police charged Stubblefield, of the 1800 block of South Fourth Avenue in Maywood, with one count of kidnapping and one count of child abduction for the two separate incidents that occurred on Wednesday Dec. 5.

Stubblefield, 28, has previous felony convictions dating back to 2006, including possession of a controlled substance, manufacturing and delivery of cannabis, forgery and theft.

Chicago police charged him with two counts of kidnapping, one count of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal assault in the incident involving the 13-year-old girl in Austin. That incident took place last Monday in the 400 block of North Parkside Avenue. Police say he approached the girl near Race and Parkside around 7 in the morning.

According to police, Stubblefield walked up to the girl on the street and said that he'd been watching her. He then grabbed her around the neck, said he had a gun and walked her to his parked car, where the assault took place. He then drove the girl to her home and told her to get him money or he would burn the house down. The girl went inside and called police but her attacker fled before officers arrived.

Stubblefield was booked last Friday into the Cook County Department of Corrections and is being held on $250,000 bail.

The incident involving the two teen girls in Oak Park occurred last Wednesday morning. Stubblefield allegedly approached a 16-year-old girl around 8:15 as she walked to school, putting his arm around her neck and pulling her. The girl screamed and bit his finger before pulling away, Oak Park police said. A passing motorist stopped and the man released his hold and walked away.

About 25 minutes later, a 13-year-old Oak Park girl on her way to school was grabbed from behind, a hand placed over her mouth. She screamed and ran toward a passing motorist and her abductor fled.

Descriptions were provided by the victims about the assailant and the vehicle their attacker was driving.

Stubblefield was stopped on Madison Street in River Forest within minutes of the Oak Park incidents. An off-duty Maywood police officer reported a vehicle driving erratically. River Forest Police, armed with a description of the vehicle and its driver provided by Oak Park officers to quickly made the connection, according to a statement from Oak Park police.

Oak Park Police Chief Rick Tanksley praised the actions of the motorists for helping stop the attacks. "The willingness of these two motorists to get involved when they saw a crime being committed is to be commended," he said in a news release.