Charges have been filed against two men in connection with separate robberies on the Red Line at Roosevelt over the past month. Here are the details:
• An Orland Park woman told police that 44-year-old Tiron Houser of the South Loop approached her on a Red Line train and put his hands on her face around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 16. Houser pushed the woman to the floor of the train and took her phone before exiting at Roosevelt, police said.
According to court records, a CTA supervisor called police from the platform, prompting Houser to throw the woman’s phone onto the tracks as he shouted, “I hit a man that was making fun of me. I didn’t hit no woman!”
The supervisor followed Houser until officers arrived and took him into custody.
CTA workers recovered the woman’s phone from the tracks and she used her passcode to unlock it and prove ownership of the device.
An ambulance transported the 48-year-old victim to Mercy Hospital for treatment of facial bruising and pain in her head, face, and lower back, police said.
Prosecutors charged Houser with felony robbery and criminal damage to telephone or telegraph equipment. Judge David Navarro set bail at $10,000.
• Investigators have arrested a third person in connection with the mob beating and robbery of a pregnant woman and her friend at the Roosevelt station on Dec. 29.
Jaheim McQuay, 18, was arrested near the Chicago-State Red Line station around 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 10 after police recognized him from a CTA security bulletin.
Prosecutors said CTA surveillance cameras captured video of McQuay and a group of other teens punching and kicking the victims in the chest, head, and neck during the attack. One of the victims was four months pregnant at the time, according to court records.
Facts first. 100% reader-funded. Click here to support CWBChicago today.
Members of the mob took a phone from one of the victims’ pockets during the attack and gave it to McQuay, prosecutors said. Both victims were treated at Mercy Hospital and released.
Prosecutors charged McQuay with felony robbery, felony aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, and two felony counts of aggravated battery in a public place. Judge Susana Ortiz set bail at $50,000 and ordered McQuay to go on electronic monitoring if he can post a $5,000 deposit bond to go free before trial.
On Jan. 3, police released a series of CTA surveillance images of six teenage males and females wanted in connection with the attacks. Two girls, ages 15 and 16, turned themselves in the next day after their photos popped up in media reports. Both are facing charges of robbery and aggravated battery in juvenile court.
