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$1.5 Million Bond For Man Accused Of Raping Elderly Woman

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bond was set at $1.5 million Monday for a 34-year-old man charged with the attack and rape of an 83-year-old woman in a field behind a southwest suburban Home Depot store Friday morning.

Dennis D. Dodson Jr. is charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony, a release from Orland Park police said. The victim had stopped to help Dodson, who she believed was homeless.

On Monday, Dodson was ordered held on $1.5 million and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 14, police said.

About 11:15 a.m. Friday, Orland Park police received a 911 call from the woman reporting she was attacked and sexually assaulted in a field behind Home Depot at 7300 W. 159th St. in Orland Park.

The woman said she was trying to help the man, who she believed was living in the woods behind the store. He knocked her to the ground and sexually assaulted her before being scared off by a passing police car, according to police.

The woman was taken to Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest and treated.

Several agencies joined in the search for the man, including the Cook County Sheriffs' Canine Unit, Air Unit and Forest Preserve District; as well as Tinley Park, Oak Forest and Orland Hills police.

Tinley Park police located the suspect about 9:45 p.m. Friday at 170th and Harlem, the release said. Dodson, 34, who has no known home address, was turned over to Orland Park police, and charged.

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