COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A suburban man punched a Metra conductor who asked the man to quiet down during a ride this week, prosecutors said Thursday.
The 41-year-old conductor had gotten complaints that two men were being loud and using vulgar language on the train, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing Thursday.
The conductor approached John O'Neill, 24, and another man just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, and told the pair they'd have to get off the train at the next stop if they didn't quiet down, prosecutors said.
When the train reached the Morgan Park-111th Street station, the conductor stepped off, according to police and prosecutors. As he tried to reboard the train, O'Neill shoved the man and punched him in the head, Scaduto said.
O'Neill and his companion ran northwest into a residential area, where they were arrested just after midnight Wednesday in the 2100 block of West 110th Street, according to a police report.
O'Neill, who lives in west suburban Carol Stream, was charged with aggravated battery to a transit employee.
Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Thursday said O'Neill could be released on his own recognizance if the Cook County Sheriff's Office provides electronic monitoring.
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