Woman looking for her car is tackled into parking space and raped, Indiana police say
.jpg "A 27-year-old man has been arrested and charged with rape, police said.")
An 18-year-old woman reported she was looking for her car in an Indiana parking garage when she noticed a man following her, according to police.
“She said the man then grabbed her from behind and tackled her into a parking space between two parked vehicles” shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, Bloomington Police Department said in a Facebook post. He then sexually assaulted her.
The woman yelled for help, and when she heard someone else’s footsteps, the man got up and ran away from her, authorities said. The man escaped down a staircase, and the woman reported the assault.
Now the man has been charged with rape, according to a Sept. 7 update from Bloomington police.
Authorities named Andre J. Hardy as a suspect after several people called to identify the man seen in surveillance photos shared on the department’s Facebook page on Sept. 3.
Investigators looking for Hardy, 27, eventually learned he had left the state and was in Joliet, Illinois, according to the update. That’s about 235 miles north, near Chicago.
Hardy was found at about 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, and he was arrested without incident, police said. He also faces charges of criminal confinement and sexual battery.
This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Woman looking for her car is tackled into parking space and raped, Indiana police say."