A 73-year-old woman and her 5-year-old grandson received a rude Chicago welcome when they arrived at Union Station on Saturday: The elderly woman got beaten with a cellphone before they even got out of the train station.
Fortunately, some friendly Chicagoans intervened to stop the beating. Twice.
Prosecutors said the woman was assisting her grandson through Union Station with a lot of luggage when the grandmother “nudged” Shequanna Ragland with a bag while going through a set of doors.
Ragland, 28, called the woman an “old b*tch,” Assistant State’s Attorney Carolyn Nevin said. But the grandma reportedly shrugged it off and went back inside to get the rest of her luggage.
When she emerged, Ragland kicked over one of her bags, according to Nevin. So, the grandmother walked over to kick one of Ragland’s suitcases.
That’s when Ragland “lunged” at the septuagenarian and beat her in the face and head with a cellphone, Nevin said during a bond court hearing. A group of witnesses reportedly stepped in to stop her.
After getting her bearings, the older woman saw a phone lying on the ground and, believing that it was hers, she went to pick it up.
But the phone belonged to Ragland, who then beat and punched the grandma until witnesses intervened a second time, Nevin said. The older woman allegedly had bruising and swelling above one of her eyes.
Ragland, who works as a certified nursing assistant in Bloomington, told police officers that she punched the woman and “maybe swung at her” because she “messed with her stuff,” according to Nevin.
Judge David Navarro set bail for Ragland at $10,000. She will need to post a $1,000 deposit bond to get out of jail.
