Suspected serial predator ‘went out hunting for his victims,’ Illinois cops say
Fear spread throughout Northside Chicago communities in recent months as police investigated a string of sexual assaults, officials said.
A suspected “serial predator” waited for his victims in their apartment buildings or followed them on the street and attacked some at knife-point, Chicago police told WMAQ.
Now, the 36-year-old man is facing more than a dozen charges in connection with five sexual assaults in 2022 and 2025, Chicago officials announced in an April 7 news conference.
Chakib Mansour Khodja, a limo driver, was arrested at O’Hare airport on April 4 while returning from a trip to his native country of Algeria, according to Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling and WLS.
“This man was a violent, serial predator who literally went out hunting for his victims,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said during an April 7 news conference.
It is unknown if more sexual assaults occurred between 2022 and 2025, according to Snelling, but he encouraged any victims to report incidents to police.
Of the five offenses related to Khodja’s 18 criminal charges, two occurred in 2022 and three occurred in 2025, Chicago police said.
The 2022 attacks targeted a 36-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman in May and July, police said.
The 21-year-old was assaulted when she accepted a ride from two men after leaving a bar, police told the Chicago Sun-Times. The vehicle pulled over and Khodja got in the back seat and assaulted the woman, police told the outlet.
Years later, on Feb. 2, the suspect followed a woman into her apartment building, then “held a knife to her neck and sexually assaulted her,” according to police and the Sun-Times.
“These women survived something that was horrible and terrible, and it’s something that they will continue to live with throughout the rest of their days,” Snelling said.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Suspected serial predator ‘went out hunting for his victims,’ Illinois cops say."
