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Assault Of 16-Year-Old Girl On Brown Line Train Deemed 'Unfounded,' Person Of Interest Released

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Police on Monday night said a report that a 16-year-old girl had been assaulted and held against her will on the Brown Line was "unfounded."

A man police had been questioning was released without charges.

Police initially said the girl was on the Brown Line platform at Belmont around 8:45 a.m., when a man approached her and asked for her phone number.

The initial report said when the girl got on a southbound train, the man got on the same car and stared at her, then sat next to her and put his arm around her lower waist. Police initially said the man held the girl against her will and touched her inappropriately before another passenger helped her get away.

The man stayed on the train until Quincy in the Loop, police initially said.

CBS 2's Chris Tye reported a tip came in Monday to the Town Hall (19th) District from a hotel. Surveillance images of a man wanted for questioning had been released, and the caller reported seeing the man at a downtown hotel which happens to have exits near the train.

The caller said he thought the man worked in housekeeping at the hotel.

Police questioned the man for most of the day. But by 8:35 p.m., they had announced that the man had been released without charges and the case was "unfounded." Police did not elaborate further.

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