Chicago woman charged with attacking CTA riders with glass bottle

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Jada Beatty | Chicago police

CHICAGO - A Chicago woman is facing charges after allegedly attacking two CTA riders with a glass bottle downtown.

What we know:

Jada Beatty, 26, allegedly hit two women, ages 19 and 32, with a glass bottle on Tuesday while they were riding a CTA train near the Lake Street Red Line station, according to Chicago police.

After the attack on the train, police said Beatty also battered a 66-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman outside the station.

Beatty was charged with four counts of aggravated battery in a public place, two counts of aggravated battery of a transit rider and two counts of aggravated battery of victims over 60 years old.

Beatty has a violent criminal history. Her most recent arrest was on Nov. 6 in Old Town for aggravated assault of a transit rider.

Big picture view:

The Trump administration's attention turned to the CTA after a man set a woman on fire aboard a Blue Line train in the Loop. Lawrence Reed, who had previously been arrested 72 times, is facing a terrorism charge in the attack.

The head of the Federal Transit Authority, Marc Molinaro, spoke exclusively to Fox 32 last week and said the feds are on solid ground to withhold tens of millions of dollars in funding for train and bus operations unless the CTA improves safety across the system.

"There are multiple steps that can be taken," Molinaro said. "Prevention, intervention, diversion and enforcement. We want the city, we want the system and we want the state to take seriously this problem, develop an all of the above approach to drive down incidents of assault and provide for operator and rider safety. That's what we're seeking. We have every right to ask it. President Trump and [Transportation] Sec. [Sean] Duffy have made very clear that rider and operator safety is our priority and for us at the FTA, that is not going to be questioned. We're not gonna get jerked around by anybody anywhere. We want systems to be safe for the riding public and the people who operate those systems."