A Chicago man has been detained after a confrontation aboard a Red Line train was caught on video, allegedly showing him attacking another passenger and kicking him off the train. Records show the man was already on pretrial release in two other cases at the time.
It happened around 3:52 p.m. Monday, August 31, on a northbound train near the Chicago-State station, according to Chicago police. The 40-year-old victim told officers that Johnelle McDonald stood up while aboard the train and coughed in his face several times, according to a CPD media statement. The two began arguing, and McDonald started hitting the victim in the face and body and using his fingers to gouge the victim’s eyes and mouth, police said.
A bystander recorded the confrontation and later shared the video online. The footage shows the victim lying on his back against a train door as the other man, allegedly McDonald, repeatedly punches him. The victim eventually gets back on his feet. When the train reaches the Chicago-State station and the doors open, the video shows the other man kicking the victim off the train. Police were called, and officers arrested McDonald at the Fullerton stop.
According to CPD records, Monday’s arrest was the sixth time Chicago police arrested McDonald in the past year. He was on pretrial release in two theft cases when the Red Line incident occurred. One is a felony theft case from February, while the other is a misdemeanor retail theft case stemming from an arrest just nine days before the train incident. Both theft cases originated at the same store in the 3100 block of North Clark Street in Lakeview.
Judge Antara Rivera detained McDonald on a new charge of aggravated battery of a transit passenger. She also detained him for violating his pretrial release conditions.
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