Chicago man charged in armed CTA bus hijacking on NW Side: police
Bus drove to Near North Side before driver escaped
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 51-year-old Chicago man has been charged with kidnapping in a CTA bus hijacking earlier this week, Chicago police said Friday.
Lanell Fields has been charged with aggravated armed kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated assault.
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A CTA bus driver was kidnapped at knifepoint early Wednesday morning on Chicago's Northwest Side, police said.
Fields was on a southbound No. 53 CTA bus just before 2:40 a.m. in the 2400-block of North Pulaski Road in Belmont Gardens when he pulled out a knife and demanded the bus not stop, Chicago police said.
The bus operator tripped a silent alarm, the CTA said
The bus driver, a 57-year-old woman, continued driving to the 900-block of North Clark Street on the Near North Side, where she escaped out a window after a bus supervisor located the vehicle, police said. They drove about 6.5 miles after leaving the normal route.
The suspect got off the bus and ran into Washington Park. He was taken into custody in the 100-block of East Chestnut Street in the Gold Coast just before 3:20 a.m.
The bus driver's union leaders described what they saw on the bus surveillance video.
"She could see him through the mirror, what he was doing jabbing with the knife, like he was going to stab her, but only doing it in a motion like she could see through the mirror," said Michelle Townsend, 2nd VP, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241.
It's unclear what the suspect wanted.
The bus was likely equipped with a clear cage to protect drivers, but the suspect was apparently able to get around the cage.
Fields is due in court Friday.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
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