Man charged with attacking girl, 15, on way to school

A 25-year-old Northwest Side man has been charged in the mid-December sexual assault of a teenage girl whose injuries were so severe that she remains in critical condition.
Detectives were led to Luis Alberto Pantoja, 25, through DNA that officials collected from a condom wrapper found near the Belmont Cragin backyard where the girl was attacked just before dawn Dec. 17.
Pantoja was arrested at his home on Friday without incident, police said in a statement, saying additional physical evidence was recovered then.
Pantoja, of the 5500 block of West Wrightwood Avenue, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He was ordered held without bail during a hearing today.
Authorities asked for a sign language interpreter during the hearing. Pantoja is hearing-impaired.
Pantoja was found with a gun -- police said in a release it was a .32-caliber revolver-- but it's unclear if he had it during the attack.
The attack happened in 2400 block of North Long Avenue about 5:25 a.m. The girl was found by a neighbor about two hours later, half-clothed and bleeding from the head.
Further investigation showed that the girl was actually attacked an hour earlier than detectives originally thought. When she was attacked at 5:25 a.m. on Dec. 17, the girl was on her way to catch a bus so that she can meet her father, who was to give her a ride to school.
He said the girl would usually leave a little later in the morning to do all that, which is why police thought the attack initially occurred later in the morning.
The DNA evidence was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System -- a federal database that tracks DNA profiles of convicted felons. Chicago police acquired a match from that database because Pantoja had been required to submit a sample of his DNA to law enforcement following a felony conviction for his role in a fatal 2007 traffic crash.
In that case, Pantoja was sentenced to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty on March 4, 2008 to possession of a stolen motor vehicle and failure to report a traffic crash that involved death. In the plea deal, charges of reckless homicide and failure to report an accident involving death were dropped.
Police officials declined to say who identified Pantoja as the attacker in the Dec. 17 attack on the 15-year-old.
The 15-year-old girl was initially reported in a coma with severe head injuries. Late last month, officials said the girl's condition had improved and she was talking with police. Police said in a news release today that she remained in critical condition at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Pantoja has a long criminal record dating back to 2005, with arrests and charges for theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, domestic battery after an order of protection was filed, trespassing, possession of cannabis, failure to report an accident involving death/reckless homicide, leaving the scene of accident, and eluding police.
In August of 2013, Pantoja was arrested for criminal sexual assault. On Aug. 29, a public defender was appointed and appeared before Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil, who set bail of $200,000.
On Pantoja's next court date Sept. 17, Judge Laura Marie Sullivan dismissed the charge on a finding of no probable cause