Wrigleyville man beat taxi driver in West Loop road rage incident, prosecutors say

John Danuk is charged with beating a taxi driver in the 500 block of West Adams. | CPD; Google

A Wrigleyville man was arrested Friday and charged with severely beating a taxi cab driver in a road rage incident last spring, according to police and court records.

John Danuk, 20, was arrested at his home in the 1000 block of West Byron around 9 a.m. after police learned through an investigative alert that he was wanted for questioning in the case.

Police said Danuk became enraged during a traffic altercation around 1:15 p.m. on April 17th. He jumped out of his car, spit in the cabbie’s face and repeatedly punched the 52-year-old taxi driver in the head as the victim sat behind the wheel of his cab in the 500 block of West Adams Street, according to prosecutors’ court filings.

A witness reportedly gave police descriptions of the man who struck the cab driver as well as a description of the car he left the scene in and the vehicle’s license plate number.

The cab driver, who lives in Bolingbrook, received “numerous stitches” over his right eye at Stroger Hospital, according to police. He identified Danuk in a photo line-up on Friday, police said.

Prosecutors charged Danuk with felony unlawful vehicular invasion and felony aggravated battery of a taxi driver. Judge Mary Marubio ordered him to be held without bail.
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CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets.