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Chicago Man Charged After CTA Bus Hijacked at Knifepoint

CTA vows to seek tougher charges, putting new focus on how well driver cages and alarms protect operators.

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CHICAGO – OCTOBER 21: A Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus is seen making a turn on a street October 21, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Public, mass transit carriers in the US are feeling the affect of rising oil costs as some are pondering service cuts and/or fare increases. In Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority wants to increase fares for cash-paying riders 25 cents in an effort to offset rising fuel costs. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Overview

  • Police say a passenger pulled a knife on a southbound No. 53 bus on Wednesday around 2:40 a.m., forcing the driver to keep going off route for several miles.
  • The driver hit a silent alarm and later climbed out her window near North Clark Street after a CTA supervisor found the bus, and she was not hurt.
  • Chicago police arrested 51-year-old Lanell Fields in the 100-block of East Chestnut Street before 3:20 a.m., and he was charged Friday with aggravated armed kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated assault.
  • Prosecutors said he brandished a roughly 12-inch knife and held the driver for nearly an hour before her escape, and a judge ordered him detained.
  • Union leaders say video shows the assailant got around the driver’s protective cage, and CTA says it will push for felony upgrades as the case fuels a larger debate over transit safety.