A 66-year-old woman who is in town for the Chicago Marathon was severely injured Friday evening when a man with significant mental health issues pushed her onto the Green Line tracks at Cermak — days after police arrested him for knocking another woman unconscious on a Loop sidewalk.
The 32-year-old homeless man was arrested for the CTA attack on Saturday by officers who recognized him after he walked into a downtown police station to use the payphone. CWBChicago is not naming him because he is not yet charged with the train station attack.
Police on Friday said a man punched and shoved a 66-year-old woman on the Cermak Green Line platform around 6:55 p.m. The woman suffered head and arm injuries, according to a CPD statement. A source said the woman is visiting for the marathon and a CPD spokesperson confirmed she is from out of town.
According to the police incident report, she sustained a broken eye socket, broken wrist, and cuts when the man pushed her from the platform. Fire department personnel took her to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
CTA surveillance cameras captured the attack. Charges are pending.
CWBChicago has learned that police arrested the same man in the 800 block of South Wabash on Monday morning after he allegedly punched a woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, hit her head on the sidewalk, and lose consciousness. The attack was recorded by a nearby business’ security camera.
That victim’s husband chased after the man and brought him back to the attack scene to be arrested by police, prosecutors said during a misdemeanor bond court hearing Tuesday.
A CWBChicago reporter who listened to the hearing on YouTube noted that the accused man displayed signs of mental health conditions, such as speaking loudly in court about unrelated topics.
Judge Arthur Willis set bail for the man at $10,000 with an additional $1,000 for violating the bond terms in an ongoing trespassing case. Willis signed an order for the man to receive health treatment in jail.
Court records that would show how the man managed to get released from jail after Monday’s attack were not immediately available. Someone may have posted the $1,100 deposit necessary for his release, or another judge may have reduced his bail conditions during a scheduled hearing Thursday. We will post an update when we learn more.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said the man was convicted of home invasion causing bodily injury, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and aggravated battery of a police officer in 2010. He received an eight-year sentence.
Chicago Easter egg
City workers found a handgun in some bushes Wednesday afternoon as they prepared the Chicago Marathon starting line area for this weekend’s race, according to a source.
A police spokesperson confirmed that someone found a weapon on city property near Columbus Drive and Monroe Street around 3:36 p.m. CPD officers responded to the scene and inventoried the gun, the spokesperson said.
While the city’s public safety leaders expressed much interest in the discovery, a source said the gun appears to be nothing more than a “Chicago-style Easter egg.”
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