Morning commuters on the CTA Blue Line's Harlem Avenue stop in Forest Park saw a nightmare scenario Monday: police say a man punched a senior citizen, sending the rider tumbling off the platform and onto the tracks. The victim was found on the rails and rushed to Loyola University Medical Center, while a train operator managed to stop short of hitting the person. Officers then confronted a man on the platform and took him into custody after what authorities describe as a brief struggle.
Police: an attack left a rider on the tracks
According to Forest Park police, officers were called around 8:30 a.m. for a reported battery at the Harlem Avenue Blue Line platform. When they arrived, they found the victim down on the tracks. A Blue Line operator had already spotted the person on the rails and brought the train to a halt before impact, and investigators say the victim came dangerously close to the electrified third rail.
After reviewing platform surveillance video and speaking with witnesses, police say they identified 39-year-old Tommie O. Carter as the suspect. Carter is charged with one felony count of attempted murder and three felony counts of aggravated battery to a police officer. Authorities say he resisted arrest and spat on an officer during the struggle. He was set to appear for a detention hearing at the Maywood courthouse, according to CBS Chicago.
Where it happened
The confrontation unfolded at the Harlem station on the Blue Line's Forest Park branch, listed at 701 Harlem Ave. in Forest Park, according to the Chicago Transit Authority. The platforms there, like the rest of the line, run beside an electrified third rail, which is why any fall from the platform is immediately life-threatening. Police say the victim in this case missed that rail by a narrow margin.
Transit safety and a pattern of platform assaults
This is not the first time this year that riders and workers have ended up in the path of CTA trains. In August, a man was accused of punching a 70-year-old CTA employee onto the tracks at the Grand-Milwaukee Blue Line station, according to CWB Chicago. Earlier in February, a man and woman were pushed off the platform and onto the Blue Line tracks during a confrontation in Norwood Park, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Those incidents, layered on top of the Forest Park case, have stirred fresh concern among riders about safety and the level of policing across the CTA system. It is the kind of pattern commuters notice, even if they are just trying to get to work.
What's next in court
Carter now faces a slate of felony counts that will move through the Cook County court system. A detention hearing in Maywood was scheduled this week, according to CBS Chicago. Forest Park police say their investigation into the attack is ongoing.
