Man shot in CTA station

Officers found a wounded man at about 2:20 a.m. at the CTA station at Lawrence Avenue, but police said he had been shot at the Argyle station about two blocks north. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition.
Police discovered a crime scene on a train after it stopped in the CTA yard south of 95th Street. Authorities found blood near the operator's station in the train.

Thief follows woman from 'L,' is caught after return to same station

A man who held a Roscoe Village woman against her will and stole from her after following her home from a North Side "L" stop on Thursday then returned to the same station to ask for directions.
Officers found Martise Earl Lowe, 21, getting off the train at the Brown Line’s Western station late Thursday or early Friday, carrying an Apple laptop later identified as the victim’s.
Lowe trailed the woman from the Brown Line’s Paulina station to her home in the 1700 block of West Henderson Street. He then entered her house, grasped her throat and threw her to the floor. Lowe took an iPhone and computer from the home.
As police looked for the robber, an attendant at the Paulina station remembered a man matching the description who asked for directions to the Western stop. Police found Lowe getting off a train there, holding a computer. When they took him back to the crime scene, the victim identified Lowe as her attacker and the electronics he was carrying as her own. Police arrested him there about 12:15 a.m. Friday

3 charged with beating, robbing 2 men near Red Line

Three men in their 20s are accused of beating and robbing two men in separate attacks near the Red Line on the North Side.
The first attack occurred shortly before midnight Monday near the Thorndale station in the 1100 block of West Thorndale Avenue.  A man told officers he boarded a southbound train at Morse to go to work with his friend and saw the three drinking and screaming profanities.
The two left the train at Thorndale, but the suspects followed them and started kicking one of the men and punching him in the face and back of the head before fleeing with his backpack.
The victim went to a CTA attendant and called 911, according to police. Emergency crews got to the scene and the victim was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital for treatment. There were no reports of the friend being injured or robbed.
Officers searched the area and found the three suspects near Winthrop and Thorndale avenues after they learned of a second robbery that happened around the same time.
During that attack, the three confronted a man and took his cigarettes and lighter, then knocked him to the pavement and demanded money. They went through his wallet, took his debit card and continued hitting him while demanding his PIN.  The victim gave them a fake number.
“You are going with us to the ATM,’’ a police report quoted one of the suspects as saying.
The victim saw a person walking on the north side of the street and began yelling for help, causing the three suspects to run west on Glenlake Avenue and then south on Winthrop toward Thorndale, where they were arrested at 11:55 p.m.
Josimar Garita, 26, of the 5500 block of North Ashland Avenue, was charged with aggravated battery to police for spitting on an officer, armed robbery, and aggravated battery; David Ferguson, 24, of the 5400 block of North Ashland Avenue, was charged with robbery and armed robbery; and Julian Garita, 25, also of the 5500 block of North Ashland, was charged with armed robbery.

$250K bail for Logan Square neighborhood man facing sexual abuse charges

Bail was set at $250,000 today for a 37-year-old man charged with sexually abusing a CTA rider on the Brown Line who spotted him two days later on a train platform sporting the same red gym shoes he was wearing during the attack.
Echevarria, of the 2600 block of North Harding Avenue, was charged with criminal sexual abuse and failure to register as a sex offender.
Echevarria, who was wearing red gym shoes during the proceedings, is accused of sexually abusing a 25-year-old woman's while she was riding a crowded Brown Line train Tuesday morning.
A police report said the woman told Echevarria to stop several times and she tried to get away but couldn't move as the train traveled southbound from the Fullerton station.
Another rider eventually pulled  Echevarria off the woman and shielded her from him, allowing her to leave at the Sedgwick station.
While waiting for another Brown Line train Thursday at the Fullerton station, the woman noticed a man wearing the same red gym shoes that  Echevarria had on two days earlier, according to the report. She alerted CTA employees, who did not allow Echevarria to board a train and called police.

3 teens charged in Northwest Side robberies

Three 15-year-old boys face robbery charges after they used toy guns to hold up a woman and a 14-year-old girl in the O’Hare neighborhood Thursday night.
The three boys were arrested at or near the Cumberland Blue Line station a within about 15 minutes of the robberies, which took place just after 7 p.m. Thursday. Police had to chase one of them onto the CTA right-of-way to catch him, causing a brief shutdown of Blue Line service.
One of the robberies took place in the 8700 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue a little after 7:05 p.m., when a group of teens approached a 31-year-old woman, showed a weapon and demanded property from her. They took the woman’s backpack and cell phone and fled.
About the same time, a 14-year-old girl walking in the 5400 block of North East River Road—about a block away from the other robbery—was approached by a group of teens, and one of them displayed a gun and announced a robbery. The group took a smartphone and earphones from the girl and ran off.
A few minutes later, officers located five teenage boys at the Cumberland Blue Line station, and quickly caught several of them. One of the 15-year-olds who later was charged got off the Cumberland platform and ran onto the Blue Line tracks before he was caught.
In the boys’ possession police found a backpack with two toy guns that matched the description of those used in the robberies.
Two of the 15-year-olds were charged with two counts of armed robbery, and the third was charged with one count of armed robbery. The other two taken into custody were released without charges.

Women robbed on Southwest Side at, near Orange Line

Police are warning Southwest Side residents of a robber who’s targeted women at two Orange Line “L” stops in the last week.
In both robberies, the man or boy went up to a woman and took her purse and cell phone by force.
Most recently, the robber went up to a woman in the 4900 block of South Western Avenue, at a bus stop near the Orange Line Western Avenue stop on Wednesday just before 10 a.m.
On Oct. 12, a woman was on the “L” in the 4900 block of South Kedzie Avenue when she was robbed.
The robber is described as a black, between the ages of 16 and 21, standing about 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-1 and weighing about 160 pounds. In the most recent robbery, he was wearing a gray jacket and black pants.

Man critically injured in fall on Blue Line 3rd rail

A man suffered critical burn injuries when he fell on the electrified third rail at the Logan Square station this afternoon.
The man fell on the tracks at the station, 2620 N. Milwaukee Ave., a little before 4:30 p.m. and suffered burns when he fell on the third rail. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition

3 men, 2 in women's clothing, charged with robbery on Blue Line

Three men, two of whom were dressed as women as they tried to take a man’s messenger bag and bicycle on a Blue Line train Monday, have been charged with robbery.
Jim Walls, 17, of the 300 block of West 58th Street; Antonio Fox, 19, of an unknown address, and Kenneth Brown, 20, of Harvey were each charged with each one count of robbery.
About 6:15 a.m. Monday, a 50-year-old bicycle messenger was on the train with his bicycle and bag when a group approached him on the 400 block of South Clinton Street.
A few members in the group tried to yank his bike away by the back wheel, but the man resisted. Instead, the group snatched his messenger bag that was resting in a nearby seat.
When the victim noticed his bag was gone, he went to the next car on the train and saw Fox sitting down with the bag on the ground.
The victim tried to grab bag but was pushed to the ground and punched by people in the group.
The victim got off the train at the next exit and began to follow the attackers who also had fled the train car before him. Soon, the group noticed they were being followed and went back to the Clinton Street station and dumped out the items in the bag onto the ground and rummaged through the contents.
The victim then followed them to the Clinton Street platform and alerted a CTA worker that he had been robbed by the group. The CTA worker called police and described the robbers as men dressed like women.
The victim continued to follow the attackers when they exited the station for the second time and eventually waved down police near Van Buren Street and Wacker Drive where they were arrested.
Police said two of them were wearing pink wigs and mini-skirts.

Thievery, robbery and other Chicago chaos- come to Chicago and get robbed and molested

Boys 14 and 15 accused of injuring senior during robbery

Two boys, 14 and 15, snatched a purse from a 72-year-old woman last month, knocking her down and causing her to suffer shattered pelvic bones and two broken toes in the East Beverly neighborhood on the city’s Far South Side.
Both boys were in court today before Judge Lana Johnson, who placed them on curfew and released them to their parents. Prosecutors had asked that they be held.
The boys were cited in a juvenile petition with robbery, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a senior citizen, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery on the public way, and theft.
The incident happened about 4:30 p.m. on July 25 near 103rd Street and the Metra tracks as the woman was taking a shortcut through an alley.

17 year old charged following North Avenue Beach robbery

Three Cincinnati women riding a rented bicycle on North Avenue Beach were confronted Saturday afternoon by a group of teens, one of whom is accused of stealing one woman's iPhone.
Keith B. Clough, 17, of the 9300 block of South Perry Avenue, was charged late Sunday night with one count of felony robbery.
The women, 25, 26 and 27, were enjoying a "chariot" bicycle ride when a group of male and female teenagers jumped onto the bike and refused to get off.
The teens began harassing the women and "took turns" jumping onto the chariot cycle. At one point, one of the teens molested one of the women.
Clough is accused of grabbing an iPhone 4 from the hand of one of the women and running away with it on a bike path toward the lake. That woman ran after him but could not catch up to him.
The others in the group fled the scene and were not arrested.
No injuries were reported.
Clough was arrested at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive after the women identified him as the person who took the iPhone

2 men in women's clothing among 5 arrested after trying to steal bike on Blue Line

Five people are in custody this morning, including two males possibly dressed in wigs and mini-skirts, after they tried to take a man's bicycle and messenger bag while on a Blue Line train this morning.
The incident began about 6:15 a.m. when the 50-year-old bicycle messenger was on the train with his bicycle and bag as the group approached him while the train was at about the 400 block of South Clinton Street.
Members of the group tried to yank the bike away from the man but he resisted. Instead, some took the man's messenger bag.
After taking the bag, the group ran off the train at the Van Buren and Wacker Drive stop with the bicycle messenger chasing after them.
Someone else had called 911 to report the incident and a police vehicle from the Central Police District was dispatched to the area,.
The messenger waved down the police officer and pointed out several members of the group to the officer. The officer arrested three of them near Van Buren Street and Wacker Drive and put them in handcuffs.
The same officer soon managed to find the remaining two members of the group and arrested them at Washington Street and Wabash Avenue.
The group included two 19-year-old men, a 20-year-old man, and a 17-year-old boy and girl. Two of the males in the group were wearing women's clothing.
Preliminary information indicated that at least two of the males were wearing pink wigs and mini-skirts.

On-duty CTA worker attacked at knifepoint

A CTA worker was attacked at knifepoint as she started her shift in the Blue Line subway early Wednesday in the West Town community.
The victim, a 47-year-old woman, left her booth momentarily to use the restroom located across the platform at the Chicago Avenue station at 800 N. Milwaukee Ave.
As she exited to get back to work, a man was standing in front of the washroom door. He asked her for the time and then shoved her back into the washroom and onto the floor where he began choking her.
When she started to scream, he said: “Shut up! Shut up or I will cut you,’’ .
When someone entered the station, he fled out the Milwaukee Avenue exit stairwell.
Officers responded to a 911 call and found the woman inside her booth, crying and traumatized but without any apparent physical injuries.
Police issued a description of the attacker and began looking for him. He was described as black, between the ages of 28 and 32, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-11 and weighs 170 to 200 pounds, police said. He has a Afro hairstyle and was wearing a white tank top and blue jeans.
Police searched but could not find him and are hoping to review several cameras that are mounted on the ceiling of the CTA platform.

Detectives warn of downtown Blue Line robberies

Detectives are warning riders of the CTA Blue Line downtown about strong-arm robberies in which men take riders' iPhones or iPads.
In both of two recent robberies, the men forced someone to give up an iPhone or iPad as they rode the subway.
In the first attack, a 22-year-old woman had her property stolen on the train near the Washington Street Blue Line station about 6 a.m. on July 16. In the second, two men robbed a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy on a train in the 200 block of North Dearborn Street about 2:20 p.m. on Thursday, near the Clark Street station.
In the second attack, the robbers were described as black men between the ages of 19 and 22. One stood about 6 feet tall, weighed about 160 pounds and had curly hair and a medium complexion. The second stood about 5 feet 7 inches and weighed about 160 pounds.

Man dead after being struck by Red Line subway train

A 24-year-old man was hit by a southbound CTA Red Line subway train on the Near North Side Sunday evening.

The man was found on the tracks near the Grand Avenue stop, unresponsive, about 6:32 p.m..
Sheffy Abraham was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:30 p.m

Man dies after falling on third rail

A man was pronounced dead after he fell from the Howard Street CTA train platform this evening and landed on the third rail.
The incident happened at about 7:30 p.m
The man made contact with the third rail and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition where he later died.
According to the Cook County medical examiner's office the man was in his 20s and was pronounced dead at 8:08 p.m. Officials believe the man accidentally fell onto the tracks.
The man's name was being withheld pending notification of his family.

Man held on $250K after bus driver hit by hot coffee

A Chicago man faces felony battery charges after he allegedly threw hot coffee in a CTA driver's face and assaulted him Friday after missing the bus.
Quintin M. Jackson, 32, is charged with aggravated battery to a transit employee and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in connection to the incident, which left the driver with second-degree burns that could lead to permanent scarring
The 49-year-old victim was taken to Loyola University Medical Center's burn unit after the attack and was treated for severe burns to the face, neck and arms.
Jackson, holding a hot cup of coffee, approached the victim in his parked bus Friday at the Jefferson Park Transit Center on the 4900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
Jackson began berating the driver, accusing him of previously not stopping to allow him on the bus.
The driver told Jackson he had not seen him and that Jackson had not been at a valid stop.
Jackson became irate and threw the scalding coffee on the victim's face, temporarily blinding him in his left eye.
Jackson then jumped on the bus driver and began punching and choking him.
The driver eventually got free of Jackson and ran off the bus, with Jackson in pursuit.
The victim called the police as he was running from Jackson, and Jackson hid behind some garbage cans in a nearby alley.
Police arrived and returned to the bus a few minutes later with Jackson.
Both the victim and another witness fingered him as the attacker.
"That's me, bitch!" Jackson screamed at the victim, court records state. "I got you, bitch!"
The incident was captured on CTA surveillance video.
After his arrest, Jackson admitted to police that he tried to flag the bus down, but he fell and hurt himself as he chased the bus.
This angered Jackson, O'Brien said, and he admitted to police that he bought the hot coffee, confronted the driver and threw it in his face.

Man accused of assaulting female CTA bus driver

A Far South Side man is accused of assaulting a woman as she drove a CTA bus in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
Gabriel Hayes, 33, of the 300 block of East 120th Place, has been charged with aggravated battery of a transit employee and criminal sexual abuse.
The 30-year-old bus driver told police Hayes approached her around 4 a.m. Wednesday while she was standing outside at a bus turn-around at Archer and Neva avenues. Hayes told her she was “pretty” and exposed himself, but he left when she told him to go away
But he boarded her bus when it was back in service and molested her while she was driving.
She stopped the bus and called authorities who arrested Hayes at 4:40 a.m. at 7101 W. Archer Ave

Man dies after falling on third rail at North Side 'L' stop

A California man died early this morning after falling on the tracks at the Addison Red Line stop in Wrigleyville.
The man, identified as Otis Carmichael, 44, of West Covina, California, was declared dead at 2:16 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The man died after making contact with the third rail at the "L" stop at 940 W. Addison St..
The man was with a family member when he fell on the tracks

Man charged in Green Line robbery suspected in others

Chicago police are looking for anyone who might have been robbed by a man charged in the recent robbery of two men on a Green Line "L" in Bronzeville and suspected in at least two others.
Gregory Taylor, 19, is being held in lieu of $90,000 bail in the aggravated robbery of a 17-year-old boy and a 25-year-old man on a CTA Green Line train near 40th Street about 1:55 p.m. May 25. Taylor was arrested in the 5400 block of South Wells Street about 2:20 p.m. Sunday by Public Transportation officers.
He has been charged with felony theft and aggravated robbery and cannabis possession for having a small amount of marijuana when he was arrested.
Taylor, of the 5300 block of South Union Avenue, is also suspected in other robberies on "L" trains on May 20 and May 17.
The man and the boy were riding on a southbound "L" to the Garfield/55th Green Line station when a man began threatening them and robbed them of an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S, showing them a 9mm handgun he had under his shirt. He threatened to shoot the two in the foot and continued menacing them until he got off the "L" at the 43rd or 47th Street stop.
At Garfield, the pair got off the "L" and reported the robbery to officers on patrol at the station. The two were able to describe the man who robbed them, and the officers sent out a message with his description.
The next day, transportation officers in the area of 5400 South Wells saw a man matching the description of the May 25 robber, including that he was wearing a distinctive black-and-gold metal rosary.
Investigators have also been able to tie Taylor to two other recent "L" robberies described in police alerts recently.
About 6 a.m. on May 20, a 41-year-old man was about to leave a southbound Green Line train and was balancing his Samsung cell phone on his thigh when a man snatched the phone and ran from the train at the 51st Street stop. Surveillance video shows the robber running from the car the victim was in and also shows the robber riding back and forth on the "L" between 40th and Garfield before the robbery
The police alert about the May 20 robbery shows surveillance video stills of a man in a green sweatshirt with white and yellow stars. Taylor's police booking photo shows him wearing a similar sweatshirt.
In a robbery about 5:30 p.m. on May 17, a man threatened a 32-year-old woman on a northbound Red Line train at the Jackson Boulevard stop, telling her he had a gun before robbing her of her iPhone. Surveillance video shows the robber walking through an "L" car, taking things from riders and then getting off the train at Jackson. Video then captured the robber running to the Blue Line, taking off and discarding the sweatshirt he had been wearing before going back to the Red Line and getting on a southbound train.
Area Central robbery detectives are investigating. Anyone who suspects they may be a victim of Taylor is asked to contact Area Central Detectives at (312) 747-8384.

Man struck, killed by Orange Line train

Part of the CTA's Orange Line on the Southwest Side was shut down this afternoon after a man was run over and killed by a train.
The CTA received reports of a person who made contact with a northbound train north of the Orange Line's Halsted stop about 4:30 p.m.. The person was dead on the scene, near Archer Avenue and 23rd Place.
The man, in his 40s, was believed to have been walking on the tracks when he was struck by the train

Man, 85, knocked down and robbed at Loop CTA stop

An 85-year-old man was pushed down and robbed as he climbed the stairs of a Blue Line stop in the Loop this morning.
The man was following his 83-year-old wife up the steps in the 300 block of South Dearborn Street around 10:30 a.m. when he was knocked down and his wallet taken.
He suffered head and neck injuries and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition had stabilized.
The wife told police a young man ran past her and she turned around to see her husband at the bottom of the stairs bleeding. He told her that his wallet containing about $40 and credit cards had been stolen.
Officers were interviewing the man at the hospital. The couple is from Des Plaines.
Police described the robber as a black man with dark complexion, about 5-foot-9 and wearing a black shirt and black shorts.
Authorities said the CTA may have video of the incident.

Man found dead on Green Line train

A CTA worker found a man dead on a Green Line train at a South Side "L" terminal early today, possibly from a drug overdose.
The man, 22, of Addison, was found on a train at the Ashland/63rd terminal of the Green Line, and was declared dead on the scene at 2:43 a.m.
A CTA worker notified police about 2:10 a.m. that the man was unresponsive on the train
Police found no apparent signs of trauma, and found what was believed to be drug paraphernalia near his body. Detectives were conducting a death investigation