Despite a recent ruling by a federal judge, concealed carry is still prohibited for most folks on the buses and trains run by the Chicago Transit Authority (the named plaintiffs in the case are the lone exception, at least for the time being). And despite the prohibition on carrying guns, knives, or any other weapons on public transportation, riders continue to be targeted by violent criminals who pay no mind to the CTA’s policy. 

One of the most recent cases involved a 31-year-old man who was brutally attacked in late August while waiting for a train at the CTA’s Western Blue Line platform. Though police were quick to make two arrests, one of the suspects has already been cut loose by a Cook County judge. 

Detectives eventually identified the pair as Travis Andrews, 29, and Shakena Agee, 27.

During separate detention hearings, prosecutors said Andrews took the man’s phone from his hand and then struggled with the victim. Agee allegedly entered the fray and took possession of the phone as Andrews beat him with a hammer.

The victim suffered skull fractures, brain bleeding, and a fractured cheekbone, according to a criminal complaint.

Prosecutors charged Andrews and Agee with attempted first-degree murder, robbery, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Andrews is also charged with misdemeanor resisting.

Judge Ankur Srivastava granted the state’s detention petition for Andrews. However, Judge Antara Rivera rejected a similar petition for Agee, opting instead to send her home on an ankle monitor.

This isn’t the first time someone accused of a serious violent offense on the city’s public transit network has been set free with an ankle monitor while awaiting trial. As CWB Chicago reported on Wednesday evening, a man accused of stabbing another passenger on a Red Line train last week was out on pre-trial release in a case where he’s accused of attacking a CTA bus driver.

Trent Prusinski was on the street even though prosecutors asked a judge to keep him in jail over the summer after he got arrested again and allegedly violated his court-ordered nighttime curfew.

The stabbing occurred aboard a northbound Red Line train as it approached Wilson around 1:10 p.m. on Monday, September 2.

Prusinksi, 23, argued with other passengers before randomly stabbing a 37-year-old man in the back at least three times, officials said. One of the stab wounds fractured the victim’s shoulder, requiring surgery.

… Court records show he is on pretrial release for battering a CTA bus driver in the 1300 block of West Cermak last September. The driver told police that he saw Prusinksi running toward a bus stop and that he was going to stop the bus when Prusinksi fell down and started pounding on the bus door. Given Prusinksi’s demeanor, the driver refused to let him on, a CPD report said. Prusinksi went to the opposite side of the bus, reached through the driver’s window, and ripped off part of the bus’ steering column, the report stated. He allegedly flung the steering column component, striking the driver in the face.

Prusinski was placed on electronic monitoring after his arrest, though CWB Chicago reports a judge untethered him just three weeks later. In the year since his arrest, Prusinski has been charged with two separate trespassing misdemeanors and has repeatedly violated the terms of his release by staying out past his court-appointed curfew. Despite that, the 23-year-old remained on the street until he was taken into custody for the stabbing on Monday. 

No matter what the signage posted at bus stops and train stations say, CTA property is hardly “weapons-free”. Continuing to defend the current policy isn’t just an affront to our constitutional rights. It’s an insult to common sense as well, and it gives violent predators the upper hand over citizens just trying to make it to work or home without losing their lives or suffering serious injury.