Chicago police are investigating after a man reportedly struck a Red Line passenger in the head with a gun box on Wednesday evening. Cops and 911 dispatchers referred to the victim as an off-duty police officer.
A CPD spokesperson would not confirm that the victim is a cop, but they did say a 28-year-old man was hit in the head with a “plastic case” during an altercation on the Red Line near North-Clybourn around 5 p.m.
The victim and another man were engaged in a physical fight when the assailant “retrieved a plastic case and struck the victim in the head and fled in [an] unknown direction,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. EMS treated the victim for his injuries, according to CPD.
Officers who met with the victim at the Belmont CTA station in Lakeview specifically said he was struck in the head with a Glock brand gun case while riding the train. Dispatchers referred to the victim as an “off-duty.”
Nearly an hour after the incident, officers on patrol in the Loop who were notified of the incident involving an “off-duty” stopped a man and a woman who resembled the suspects descriptions. Dispatch records show that cops in Lakeview contacted the victim and took him downtown to determine whether they were the right people. They made no arrests, according to the CPD spokesperson.
The victim described his attacker as a Black male between 16- and 18-years-old, who stood 5’7″ and weighed 120 pounds. He wore a hoodie with black Crocs, carried a small bookbag containing the Glock case, and was traveling with a woman.
Police handled at least two robbery reports on the downtown subway system Wednesday afternoon and evening.
A CTA passenger reported four people selling candy robbed them in the pedestrian tunnel between the Jackson Red and Blue lines. Another victim flagged down a cop shortly after 6 p.m. following an alleged robbery at the Harrison Red Line station.
Police did not make any arrests.
Would you please support CWBChicago’s reporting efforts with a contribution or subscription?
