Prosecutors on Sunday accused a Chicago man of battering two CTA passengers with a gun along the Blue Line last week.
Chicago police officers who were assigned to search the downtown train system for the suspect arrested 33-year-old Darren Muldrow at the Roosevelt station Friday morning, according to prosecutors and a CPD arrest report.
Muldrow first attacked a 21-year-old man who was sitting on a bench and looking at his phone at the Clinton Blue Line station around 6:54 a.m. Monday, August 2, according to police and prosecutors.
Assistant State’s Attorney Darryl Auguste said the victim saw Muldrow out of the corner of his eye and heard him mumbling before Muldrow struck him in the head with an object. The force of the blow knocked the man from the bench to the platform, Auguste said. When the victim looked up, he allegedly saw Muldrow holding something that appeared to be a handgun.
The victim notified a CTA worker at the station, but the attacker was gone when police arrived.
Two days later, Muldrow allegedly attacked a 39-year-old woman who was riding a Blue Line train to work around 9:03 a.m. The woman was playing a video game on her phone when she noticed Muldrow sit down on a seat across from her, Auguste said. She suddenly felt several hard strikes to her head, and a CTA video showed Muldrow used a “gun-like object” to hit her, according to Auguste.
Officers who arrested Muldrow on Friday found a Stealth brand paintball gun in his backpack, Auguste said. At least one of the victims identified him in a photo lineup, the prosecutor said.
Muldrow was convicted of aggravated battery of an elderly person in 2019 and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in 2007, Auguste said. He is now charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery of a transit passenger, two felony counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor possession of a replica firearm.
His public defender said Muldrow. has mental health concerns.
Judge David Navarro set bail at $100,000, meaning Muldrow will need to post $10,000 to get out of jail before trial. He is due in court again on August 16.
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