Creepy Guy Charged After Following Woman's Car: Report

Photo of vehicle allegedly pursuing woman, used with permission.

Oak Lawn, IL, May 25, 2016 -- A Waukegan man was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after he followed an Oak Lawn woman to her home and boxed her into her driveway, reports said.

Akram Habbas, 31, appeared May 23 before Cook County Judge Peter Felice, who set bail at $1,000.

Oak Lawn police went to meet a woman who had called 911 from the police station parking lot. The woman told police she had just arrived home from work around 3 a.m. May 23. She was gathering her belongings to go into the house when she noticed a newer model Ford Expedition blocking her driveway in the area of 87th Street and 50th Avenue.

Police said the woman did not recognize the driver, a man later identified as Habbas, wearing a green shirt, who just sat in his vehicle and stared at her.

The woman became scared and did not want to get out of her car, so she drove out of her driveway eastbound onto 87th Street. Police said Habbas started following the woman’s car into the Fairplay Supermarket parking lot at 8700 S. Cicero Ave.

According to the report, Habbas followed the woman toward the traffic signal in the parking lot, who drove up next to her and tired to ram her car. The woman turned southbound onto Cicero, then westbound on Southwest Highway, while on the phone with 911.

She was able to report Habbas driving westbound on 95th Street, who was stopped by police at 95th and Cook. The woman was brought to the scene where she identified Habbas and his SUV, police said.

While at the police station, Habbas allegedly told police that the woman was traveling at a high rate of speed and almost struck his vehicle. He began following her from 87th Street and Ridgeland Avenue.

According to police, Habbas claimed he was having a problem lately with various cars following him and trying to hit his SUV. Habbas said he stopped in front of the woman’s driveway because he wanted to know why she wanted to run into his SUV.

Habbas continued to follow her to Fairplay when he tried to block her car. When she turned westbound onto Southwest Highway, he figured she was driving to the Oak Lawn police station, having lived for a time in Chicago Ridge and quit following her, reports said.

At his bond hearing later in the day on May 23, the assistant public defender told the judge that Habbas was manager of a Waukegan supermarket, although court records indicated he told police he was unemployed.

Prosecutors said that Habbas admitted he didn’t know the woman.

“Being in management you should be sensitive to people’s needs, presuming you’re innocent,” Judge Felice said.

The judge set bail at $1,000. He also told Habbas he was not to contact the woman or show up at her home, school or workplace.

Habbas is due back in court June 9 in Bridgeview.