January 1, Suspect Nabbed After Horrific CTA Train Attack

Wyatt’s Take

• A man set a woman on fire during a fight on a Chicago train.
• The suspect has a violent past and was out on an ankle monitor.
• Public safety suffers from soft-on-crime policies.

Police have detained a person of interest after a man doused a woman with liquid and set her on fire during an argument Monday night in Chicago. The attack happened on a train near Clark and Lake before 9:30 p.m., leaving a 26-year-old woman hospitalized with severe burns.

Witnesses say the suspect fled as the train stopped, and emergency crews quickly took the injured woman to the hospital.

“I just saw a lady that was laying in the ground, and they were trying to give her CPR,” a bystander explained. “And she looked like she was in an awful lot of pain.”

The alleged attacker, believed to be about 45, reportedly wore an ankle monitor for a previous aggravated battery and was not held in jail by a judge.

The fire was already out when authorities arrived. Police arson detectives are investigating and the CTA is working to support them.

Lines at Clark and Lake were halted for hours and trains started running again around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

This kind of violent crime shakes up everybody who relies on public transit to get to work or home. If you’re fed up with dangerous people going free, speak up and stay informed on what’s happening in your community.

Wyatt Matters

Our families deserve safer streets, not excuses. Heartland values mean looking out for each other, and we need leaders willing to keep violent offenders off our trains and out of our neighborhoods.

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