BLOOMINGTON — A man will spend the next eight years in prison for admitting to raping a woman inside a Bloomington parking garage in 2022.
Andre Hardy, 29, of Joliet, Illinois, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of rape, a Level 3 felony. In exchange, the remaining felony charges of criminal confinement and sexual battery were dismissed.
The assault occurred around 10 p.m. on Sept. 1 in a parking garage on N. Morton Street. According to Bloomington Police, a then-18-year-old woman reported that she had entered the garage on the third floor to find her vehicle.
As the woman was walking to the fourth floor, she told police a man, identified as Hardy, began following her. According to BPD, Hardy grabbed the woman from behind and tackled her before sexually assaulting her between two parked vehicles.
The woman reported that Hardy got up and ran from the garage after she began yelling for help and heard footsteps approaching.
A few days after the assault, Bloomington Police posted several security camera photos of Hardy on Facebook. U.S. Marshals and Bloomington Police detectives arrested Hardy in Joliet, Illinois, six days later.
Hardy will be required to register as a sex offender.
