Police are working to track down the offender who put a knife to a CTA passenger’s neck and robbed him on the Monroe Blue Line platform Wednesday morning.
The victim, a 45-year-old man, told police he was sitting on a bench at the station when the offender approached him from behind around 6:17 a.m., CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli said. The offender pulled out a knife and went through the victim’s pockets.
An officer at the scene said the robber put the knife to the victim’s neck. The man was not injured, however. After the robbery, the offender escaped by boarding an O’Hare-bound train, Bartoli said. The victim said he’s a Black male who’s about 50-years-old with salt and pepper facial hair. He stands about 5’9” tall, weighs about 150 pounds, and wore a gray hoodie with black pants, according to a CPD report.
Violent crime continues to rise on the CTA’s train system this year even as ridership remains suppressed due to COVID. But Chicago police have also been making arrests in some recent cases downtown.
On Monday, prosecutors charged a five-time convicted robber with violently attacking two women in separate robberies on the Blue Line over the weekend. He was arrested after his second alleged attack at the LaSalle station downtown.
Tuesday, a 29-year-old man was charged with robbing two women as they sat on a bench at the Roosevelt Red Line station Sunday afternoon. Prosecutors say Darrell Wyatt pointed a gun at one victim’s chest while three juveniles, including a 13-year-old boy, helped him rob the women.