CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a Chicago man with repeatedly punching a woman during an attempted sexual assault aboard a Blue Line train and inappropriately touching another woman on the train line the next night.
Lorenzo Jones, 34, was held in lieu of a $50,000 bail payment by Judge William Fahy during a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon.
The first attack occurred last Sunday on an O’Hare-bound Blue Line train near the Irving Park station, Assistant State’s Attorney Domenica Devitt said during the hearing.
Jones was already on the train when a woman boarded, she said. Before long, the woman realized that Jones was pleasuring himself while looking at her.
Devitt said Jones stood up and told the woman, who was seated, “You need to s*** my d***.”
“Absolutely not,” the woman responded, allegedly prompting Jones to punch her in the face.
“You need to s*** my d*** or I’ll hit you again,” Jones told her, according to Devitt.
She refused to comply, and Jones punched her in the face again. He pushed the woman back into her seat when she tried to get away, blocked her from exiting the car, and punched her in the face again, Devitt continued.
The woman screamed for help when the train arrived at a station and reported Jones to two security officers on the platform. But the woman left before police arrived due to “some confusion,” Devitt said.
The next day, around 8:18 p.m. on Monday, a woman boarded a Blue Line train at the Chicago station. Jones was in the car when she arrived.
Once the train became less crowded, Devitt said, Jones sat across from the woman and started commenting about her legs and private parts. He stood and reached between her legs, but she pushed him off.
“You better gimme that p**** or I’ll f*** you up,” Jones allegedly warned the woman.
Devitt said he “charged at” the woman and tried to grab her private area again, but she fended him off again.
The victim exited at Belmont and called the police.
CTA’s surveillance system recorded both crimes.
Jones has six felony convictions: aggravated discharge of a firearm and five counts of aggravated battery of peace officers, all in 2017, according to Devitt.
He is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated battery. Judge Fahy ordered him to go on electronic monitoring if he posts bail.