Lawrence Reed, 50, the man accused of setting a woman on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train in November, was indicted this week on separate charges tied to a March transit assault. The new Cook County case alleges Reed attacked two riders on March 27, and he remains in custody as federal and county prosecutors press ahead on parallel tracks. The latest filings have cranked up scrutiny of electronic monitoring, pretrial supervision and day-to-day safety on Chicago trains.
Police say the March incident unfolded shortly before 7:15 p.m., when a man approached a 23‑year‑old woman on a train, made physical contact and tried to sexually assault her, then battered a 27‑year‑old man who stepped in to help, as reported by CBS News Chicago. Officers arrested the suspect that night and took him to Rush Medical Center for a mental‑health evaluation, the station reports. Both victims declined medical treatment, and prosecutors later brought the March case to a grand jury, which returned a true bill, officials said.
Separately, federal prosecutors have charged Reed with “committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system” for the Nov. 17 Blue Line assault, accusing him of dousing 26‑year‑old Bethany MaGee with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. Media reporting and court filings describe surveillance footage that prosecutors say shows Reed buying gasoline minutes before the alleged attack, and local coverage indicates MaGee remains hospitalized in critical condition, per AP. A previous breakdown of the Blue Line attack laid out the sequence of events and the initial federal complaint.
Court records and reporting show Reed has been arrested dozens of times over the past three decades, and the Chicago Sun‑Times reports he has been arrested more than 70 times since the early 1990s. Prosecutors and judges have pointed to that history while arguing Reed presents a significant public‑safety risk in pretrial settings.
Officials Demand Answers About Monitoring And Transit Safety
County court administrators say they will review electronic‑monitoring practices and how curfew violations were handled in Reed’s pretrial cases, according to reporting from NBC Chicago. At the same time, the Federal Transit Administration has warned Chicago it must update its transit‑safety plan or risk losing federal funding, Reuters reports.
Legal Charges And Next Steps
The federal terrorism charge carries a potential life sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes. Cook County prosecutors say a grand jury has now returned an indictment on the March assault, and Reed remains detained as both federal and county cases move forward, according to CBS News Chicago. Judges are expected to weigh detention disputes, mental‑health evaluations, and scheduling as evidence is assembled.
Investigators say surveillance video has been central to building both the federal complaint and the county indictment, and they continue to ask anyone with tips or footage to contact detectives. The growing stack of charges has intensified calls from riders and elected leaders for faster reforms to pretrial supervision and concrete steps to make CTA trains feel safer.
