story<\/a> about two women who, in separate instances, had been allegedly punched by William Livingston in Lincoln Park and the Loop. Livingston was ordered held in Cook County Jail pending trial. Records show he\u2019s pleaded not guilty to felony battery charges.<\/p>\nA Chicago Transit Authority spokesperson said in a statement that the \u201csafety and security\u201d of riders and employees is \u201ctop priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen CTA was alerted to this incident, we immediately pulled surveillance images to assist the Chicago Police Department with their investigation,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWe also issued a bulletin to our security staff and law enforcement to be on the lookout to identify the suspected individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far this year, about 230 cases of assault or battery have been reported at CTA train platforms, according to city data. They are reported most frequently at Clark\/Lake, 69th St. Red Line and 79th St. Red Line stops.<\/p>\n
Cook County court records show Rucker has been arrested more than two dozen times in the last 20 years. Several judges have ordered mental health evaluations.<\/p>\n
Rucker has faced charges of attacking police officers, Cook County jail personnel and hospital nurses, records show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2014, he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a police officer and was sentenced to three years in prison. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to resisting a police officer and was sentenced to another year in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rucker pleaded guilty in 2024 to aggravated battery of a nurse, records show. In November, he was sentenced to a year of probation, but he was arrested again two weeks later after CPD officers allegedly saw him attacking a 62-year-old man in River North. Rucker was charged with battery, though the disposition of that case was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n
The public defender\u2019s office said it hadn\u2019t been appointed to represent Rucker for the recent battery charges, as of Wednesday afternoon. It wasn\u2019t clear if he had obtained another attorney. Rucker couldn\u2019t be reached for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the punch, Afaneh said she immediately called 911, while her assailant went and sat on a nearby bench alone. She said the police showed up within about 10 minutes and arrested him. She decided not to go to the hospital, but still has a headache a day later, so that she might go for a check-up soon because she doesn\u2019t \u201cwant to risk anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Afaneh added that police later informed her that while Rucker was currently in the hospital, he would be released until his upcoming court date on Oct. 30. It was an update that Afaneh said made her \u201cuncomfortable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of sucks because it\u2019s like multiple people have said they went up to the police when he got arrested, and they told him I\u2019ve seen him around Loyola, I\u2019ve seen him around this neighborhood,\u201d she said. \u201cI stay around there, and I take the train every day to go to work, and now I just feel really uncomfortable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Savanna Wood, 30, also posted a now-viral TikTok video<\/a> after she was allegedly punched in the face by a man at the Addison Red Line stop on Sept. 20 about 2 p.m. while on her way to Wrigleyville. Wood didn\u2019t report the attack to the police. She said she was repeatedly disconnected when she called the non-emergency number.<\/p>\nWhen she stepped off the train and looked left to find the stairs to exit, a man punched her in the face, near her right eye. Wood\u2019s siblings and boyfriend, who were with her, saw her fall backward and were \u201cstunned for a moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Wood said she immediately left the platform because she didn\u2019t want to provoke a further attack. The man \u2014 who was wearing a \u201cbright yellow shirt\u201d and \u201creally baggy pants\u201d and Wood described as \u201cscruffy\u201d and \u201cvery tall and large\u201d \u2014 got on an incoming train. She was left with a black eye.<\/p>\n
No one has been charged in her attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the quickest and most subtle way of being attacked I probably could have ever dreamed of,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it could have been significantly worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While she encourages women to be alert, she wants people to understand that there\u2019s sometimes not a lot someone can do to prevent an attack. Wood moved to Chicago a few months ago for a new job at Northwestern University.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re in crowded situations and someone\u2019s walking toward you, it\u2019s not even as if they\u2019re approaching you, it\u2019s that they\u2019re walking past you. And that\u2019s how easy it is for something like this to happen,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve replayed this moment in my head 100 times, and there\u2019s not a single thing I could have done to prevent it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t