Wanted Man Accused Of Groping 2 Nurses At Saint Francis Hospital In Evanston

EVANSTON, IL — A Chicago man is accused of groping two female nurses at they attempted to treat him Saturday at an Evanston hospital.

Samuel Endalkachew, 25, of the 7300 block of South Crandon Avenue, was arrested shortly before midnight Saturday at St. Francis Hospital and charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery, according to police and prosecutors.

Hospital staff told police that Endalkachew had grabbed the breasts and buttocks of a nurse as she was trying to help him get to his bed earlier that night, prosecutors said Monday at his initial court appearance.

"[Endalkachew] also lifted up his hospital gown, exposing himself to the nurse, and the nurse had to ask him to cover his genitals," Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Fitzgerald told the judge.

"A second nurse told officers that, between 9 and 10 p.m., [Endalkachew] tried holding and rubbing her hands, grabbed her arms on multiple occasions, touched her buttocks and also grabbed her vagina over her clothing while she was attempting to treat [him]," Fitzgerald said.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said the allegations were significant, even if they have only been charged as misdemeanors, as they both relate to "sexual attacks" on women.

"There's nothing in my mind more important than the ability of women to be able to work in the workplace without fear of that kind of attack, especially at a time when we need our emergency personnel to be able to come to work and do their jobs without being placed in this kind of physical danger," Calabrese said.

"So there's nothing more significant, when it comes to charges of battery, than the kind of sexual allegations alleged against [Endalkachew] for these kind of offenses," he added.

At the time of his arrest, Endalkachew had an active arrest warrant for a misdemeanor retail theft charge, authorities said.

In addition to four past shoplifting convictions, Endalkachew was convicted of battery in 2017 and sentenced to 300 days in jail, according to prosecutors and the pre-trial services division of the chief judge's office. The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is one year imprisonment.

Calabrese said he was genuinely concerned about Endalkachew's inability to post any money toward his bond. But he also noted that his sentence for the battery conviction indicated it had been a serious offense.

"What is troubling to me," Calabrese said, "is there is a battery conviction for which the defendant received 300 days in [Cook County Jail], which says to me that that must have been an extraordinary incident for which the defendant would be not just found guilty but sentenced to nearly the maximum for this kind of event — a significant, significant sentence which must reflect the nature of the allegation charged against the defendant."

Fitzgerald said Monday he had no information about the nature of the underlying incident. And no information about that offense was immediately available from an Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson.

Calabrese set the cash portion of Endalkachew's bail at $10,000 for recent battery charges. He is due back in court Tuesday in Chicago on the retail theft charge, and a bond review hearing for the Evanston charge is scheduled for Monday.