Steven Lucas was on his way home from his job as a bartender when he saw a man grab a woman’s cellphone and slash her face on a CTA platform in the Loop on Friday morning.
Lucas, 25, said he decided to follow the man from the Clark and Lake stop on the Blue Line, grabbing a “Wet Floor” sign for protection.
“I called the cops as I followed him,” he told WGN-TV. “And came at him with the sign. I didn’t even hit him at all. As soon as the cops pulled up, they were able to detain him.”
Police say they recovered a knife and the woman’s cellphone from the 48-year-old suspect. Charges were pending.
The 23-year-old victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for a gash to her face, according to police.
Lucas said he was on the CTA platform just after 4 a.m. when he witnessed the attack. “He kept threatening me that he was going to stab me,” Lucas said.
“There was another guy telling me to leave it alone, to not go at him,” Lucas said. “But as a human seeing a woman bleeding, I figured it would have been the right thing.”
More Top Picks Why Fluorescent Lights Give Me A Headache
Lucas said he grabbed the sign and cornered the suspect while telling police where he was.
“I was just doing what anybody should do in that situation,” he said.