Overview
- The episode began Tuesday night when prosecutors say 36-year-old Quentin Lewis boarded a southbound CTA bus on Pulaski Road, pulled a handgun and forced the driver to keep moving through multiple red lights.
- A passenger pulled the bus emergency lever to stop the vehicle and the driver escaped through her side window, using a nearby CTA bus for safety; no physical injuries were reported.
- Police found Lewis at a nearby strip mall inside a running Dodge Ram, recovered a Glock with an extended magazine, say he reversed into a marked CPD vehicle during arrest, and prosecutors charged him with armed kidnapping, unlawful restraint, possession of a stolen vehicle and being a felon in possession of a weapon.
- Judge D’Anthony Thedford ordered Lewis detained after a detention hearing and prosecutors say the driver and a witness identified him in a photo array.
- The incident was captured on passenger and onboard surveillance video that has circulated online, and union leaders plus violence-prevention groups are organizing a public push for coordinated safety measures from CTA management, elected officials and law enforcement.