Convicted felon charged in attack on 67-year-old woman on Red Line train
CTA attack suspect Derrick McMath
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A man who is a convicted felon was charged with viciously attacking a 67-year-old woman on a CTA Red Line train.
Derrick McMath, 28, of southwest suburban Worth, was charged Saturday with felony aggravated battery in connection with the attack, which happened about noon Thursday in the 1500 block of West Jarvis Avenue, according to Chicago Police.
The woman was on the northbound train going home to Evanston, reading her Kindle, when she was attacked “completely unprovoked” and punched in the face, police said. She suffered a serious injury to her eye.
The man left the train at the Jarvis stop in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side, police said.
About 2:45 p.m. on Friday, McMath allegedly stole a pair of shoes from a store in the 2000 block of North Milwaukee. He was taken into custody and the arresting officers recognized him as the man in surveillance photos distributed that afternoon, police said.
McMath, who was convicted in 2008 of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, was also charged with and one misdemeanor count of retail theft greater than $300, police said.
He was scheduled to appear in bond court Sunday.