A Chicago man with more than 60 arrests and a history of violence against transit workers is facing new charges after prosecutors said he stabbed a good Samaritan who came to a CTA employee’s defense at a Blue Line station.
Eduardo De Jesus, 48, was arrested April 23 at the Addison Red Line station after officers posted there recognized him by his neck tattoos and took him into custody.
According to prosecutors, the incident unfolded on March 31 at the Western Blue Line station in Bucktown. De Jesus got into an argument with a CTA employee and a 30-year-old man who did not know De Jesus stepped in to help the worker, prosecutors said.
De Jesus allegedly struck the victim in the face, and as the confrontation spilled outside the station, he pulled out a weapon. When the victim raised his hand to protect himself, prosecutors say, De Jesus stabbed him in the palm. The victim was taken to a hospital and received stitches for the puncture wound.
Two police officers later identified De Jesus in a photo lineup. Officers assigned to the Addison Red Line station spotted him recently, recognized his distinctive neck tattoos, and arrested him.
Judge Anthony Calabrese ordered De Jesus detained, noting he has been incarcerated seven times, including for aggravated battery of a transit employee. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery in a public place.
Cook County court records show De Jesus has accumulated more than 60 arrests and 13 felony cases since 1992. Those cases produced felony convictions for narcotics in 2000 and 2003, burglary in 2006 and 2009, aggravated battery of a transit employee in 2018, aggravated DUI in 2018 and 2023, and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2018.
