A Griffith man has been charged with sexual battery after grabbing a woman’s breasts in a bicycle drive-by during a popular town festival.
Michael R. “Mad Mac” McInerney, 63, of Griffith, is facing two counts of sexual battery: victim compelled to submit by force or imminent threat of force, which is a Level 6 felony. His initial hearing on the matter is scheduled for December 19, according to court records.
A woman approached Griffith police officers at around 10:55 p.m. on August 28 during Griffith’s Rock n’ Rail fest and said a man on a bicycle sexually battered her twice, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday. The woman said she was walking toward the street between two food trucks in the 200 block of Broad Street when she saw the man riding by, records said.
The woman stopped to let him pass, but as he did, he reached out and grabbed her left breast before riding away, court records said.
The woman chased the man and threw her ice cream cone at him before catching up and confronting him about touching her without her consent, but as she did that, the man grabbed her breast a second time. The woman then grabbed her cell phone and recorded the man flipping her off as he left, records state.
Detectives reviewed Griffith Police video camera footage and saw a man fitting the description the victim gave them. In the footage, they saw the man riding his bike in the 200 block of Broad Street and noted he slowed down for a few moments before riding away, records said. As he came closer into view, a detective recognized the rider as McInerney from “multiple prior police contacts,” according to the affidavit.
A second detective confirmed it was McInerney from video footage the victim provided police, records said. In that footage— which the Post-Tribune also viewed on social media — the victim is heard accusing McInerney of touching her breasts without consent as McInerney rode away flipping her off, as she described to police.
McInerney, who is known by his nickname “Mad Mac,” has occasionally served as a fill-in host on WJOB radio 1230 AM.