COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Chicago Lawn man has been charged in a brutal attack that left a CTA bus passenger with brain damage, nerve damage and "lingering memory issues," prosecutors said.
Authorities claim Paris Martin, 24, was one of seven people who jumped a CTA bus passenger — dragging the man off the bus, stomping on his head and stealing his phone — in Chicago Lawn in early June.
Martin was arrested Sunday after police pulled him over for running a stop sign, according to an arrest report. He'd been wanted on a warrant in the CTA bus attack since July.
Martin was captured on CTA surveillance footage on June 9 repeatedly looking back toward the victim and texting someone as he rode the bus, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing Monday.
About 11:40 a.m., Martin pulled a cord and the bus stopped in the 6900 block of South Western Avenue, prosecutors said.
Six males boarded the bus and Martin pointed toward the victim, according to Scaduto. The group began to punch and kick the victim before eventually dragging him outside and continuing the beating, she added. There, several of the attackers allegedly stomped on the man's head before running off.
The victim, who was showing "very little brain activity," was rushed to a trauma center with "serious blunt force trauma to his head," Scaduto said.
Since the June attack, she added, the victim's condition has gradually improved, but he has lasting brain and nerve damage, as well as "lingering memory issues."
It's not clear whether the attackers knew the victim, prosecutors said. Police later realized the man's cell phone was stolen during the beating.
Since then, one of the alleged attackers, a juvenile, was charged as a juvenile with attempted murder, Scaduto said.
Martin was identified in a photo array in July and a warrant was issued, according to prosecutors. The other five have not yet been charged.
Martin was arrested about 5:15 a.m. Sunday when police pulled him over for running a stop sign, according to the arrest report. Martin was ticketed for driving on a revoked license, failing to stop at a stop sign, driving without insurance and driving without registration.
He was also charged with attempted murder.
Martin, of the 6800 block of South Wolcott Avenue, was previously convicted of possession of a stolen vehicle. His defense attorney said Martin has finished one-and-a-half years at Daley College and has two children.
Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil on Monday ordered him held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
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