Sierra Ruggiero was 10 minutes from her home in the Loop Wednesday night when a man on a bicycle pushed her onto a busy street and tried to sexually assault her.
She left the La Salle Blue Line station around 7:20 p.m. and was walking west on Ida B. Wells Drive, through the underpass before Financial Place, when the man pushed her over a short railing and into traffic, according to Ruggiero and a Chicago police report.
As the man tried to sexually assault her, Alx Taylor witnessed the attack. Taylor immediately yelled at the man to stop. The man got on his bike and fled west.
“Once he ran away, she came up to me, she checked to see if I was OK. She was the kindest soul,” Ruggiero, 25, said of the 21-year-old good Samaritan, adding Taylor stayed with Ruggiero at the scene as paramedics assessed her and until police gave Ruggiero a ride home.
Taylor said the man “almost knocked me over” when he sped by her on the bike moments before the attack.
After the man fled, Taylor walked up to Ruggiero, grabbed her shoe that had fallen off and hugged her.
“I felt so bad for her,” Taylor said. “It was awful just to see, but I felt awful that she experienced that, so I felt like I had to stay with her because I didn’t want her to be alone because she … was really upset. I gave her a little hug and we just breathed together, we talked about it a little bit.”
Ruggiero suffered bruises to her legs and tailbone. “I don’t think I actually will ever fully mentally recover from this,” she said.
“There will be moments where I can definitely forget about it in the future, but it’s something that’s always going to live with me,” she said. “Honestly, it’s definitely changed my perspective of just how I operate in the city moving forward.”
@sruggieroo I just want to say, you lose a piece of yourself when something like this happens to you. I don’t think you can ever truly “recover” from something like this. You might be able to eventually move on and forget about it somedays but this is a moment that will live with me forever. I’m thankful in this moment that I am still alive and get to wake up another day. This could of turned into something else very fast and I will be thanking god everyday that I still have my life. @abc7chicago @CBSChicago #chicago #storytime #attack #loop #chicagotiktok
Ruggiero, who moved to Chicago two years ago from Florida, said she’s hyper-vigilant walking in the city. She keeps her phone in a pocket, doesn’t wear headphones and maintains a tight grip on her 40-ounce stainless steel water bottle to use as potential self-defense.
But the water bottle was knocked out of her hand during Wednesday’s attack. She said “no matter how safe you are or how protected you think you are, something can still happen.” She said the experience may compel her to carry pepper spray or another self-defense tool .
Living in the Loop, Ruggiero has heard reports on social media about the so-called “Loop puncher,” a man accused in recent unprovoked attacks on women.
“It’s one of those things that I never thought would happen to me because I am so self-aware walking around the city,” Ruggiero said.
She posted a video about the incident to TikTok because she wanted to bring awareness to it for other women and for the community since her attacker has yet to be arrested.
Ruggiero said she’s trying to obtain security camera footage of the incident.
She and Taylor both said the man was wearing all black clothing and a blue surgical face mask, and he was riding a small bicycle.
A Chicago police spokesperson said Saturday the investigation remains ongoing.