Crime & Safety
Aurora Teen Charged With Attacking Multiple Women: Police
Aurora police arrested an 18-year-old man they say is responsible for a series of attacks on women over the past month.
AURORA — An 18-year-old Aurora man is facing felony charges after police alleged he attacked at least four women in the city over the past month. Zion Banks was arrested earlier this week and charged with three counts of aggravated battery, one count of attempted criminal sexual assault and one count of unlawful restraint — all felonies, according to a news release from the Aurora Police Department. Banks also faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing identification, the release states.
Police allege Banks grabbed a woman around 10 a.m. April 17 in downtown Aurora as she was walking home. The woman told police she used an umbrella to strike the man, who then fled, the release states. Less than a week later, a woman reported a man tried to sexually assault her in the 500 block of East Benton Street, according to police.
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Aurora police were called to the area of Kensington Place and Elmwood Avenue on April 30 after a woman reported a man assaulted her before fleeing the area, the release states.
Three days later, a woman reported she was walking in the 500 block of Second Avenue when a man approached her from behind and grabbed her, according to police. Officers saw Banks running away from the area and arrested him, and the victim identified him as the man who assaulted her, according to the release.
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Banks was linked to all four attacks through witnesses’ testimony, evidence and video footage, the release states. Aurora police are investigating a similar incident that occurred April 28 in the area of Garfield Avenue and Chestnut Street, and detectives believe Banks may have committed assaults that weren’t reported, according to the release.
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The Aurora Police Department is asking anyone with information about the assaults to call its Investigations Division at (630) 256-5500.
Banks is being held at the Kane County Adult Justice Center in lieu of $175,000 bail. He is due to next appear in court June 3.
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