Chicago — Prosecutors said a man who’s on probation for aggravated battery of a police officer stabbed another passenger on the Blue Line because he believed the victim took his wallet while he was sleeping on the train.
Jay Brown, 66, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery. Judge Kelly McCarthy ordered him to pay $25,000 toward bail to be released on electronic monitoring.
Brown and the victim were seated separately when a witness boarded the inbound train at Division Street around 4:40 a.m. Sunday, prosecutors said. About 15 minutes later, Brown woke up and started yelling that his wallet was missing.
He accused the 47-year-old victim of taking his wallet, then got up and stabbed the victim eight times near the Austin station, prosecutors allege. The victim pushed Brown off and ran to the other end of the train car, activating the emergency button along the way.
Chicago police arrested Brown on the train and recovered a knife from under the seats, prosecutors said.
The victim suffered stab wounds to his arms, side, and back.
In addition to being on probation for aggravated battery of police, Brown also had an outstanding warrant for a robbery case. Prosecutors said he was convicted of robbery in 2019 and received 36 months of mental health probation. In 2012, he was sentenced to the state division of mental health after being convicted of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Brown’s defense attorney said he has six children and is retired from the Sun-Times.
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