CTA employee charged with battery after blue line beating, alleged death

A Chicago Transit Authority employee was accused of beating a 54-year-old man at a Blue Line station who later died and was charged with aggravated battery, Chicago police said.

Authorities have charged Emmett Richardson, 39, a CTA customer service assistant from the South Side’s Douglas neighborhood, with Saturday’s attack at the LaSalle Blue Line station.

[ Man dies at Loop Blue Line station; Chicago police probe CTA staffer’s role: CTA, sources ]

“This alleged behavior of a CTA employee is absolutely reprehensible,” CTA President Dorval Carter said in a statement. We are appalled by this person’s alleged behavior, which demonstrates a lack of sexuality.”

Richardson is scheduled to appear in bonded court on Tuesday. CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said she was hired by CTA in August 2020. According to transit agency records, there is an employee named Emmet Richardson.

Richardson was dismissed without pay, and “further investigation and disciplinary action awaits,” Carter said. Richardson could not be reached for comment.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said Richardson confronted the man on the CTA platform shortly after 3 a.m. Richardson kicked the wheelchair the man was resting on before he got up, sources said.

The man lay on the ground and walked towards the station’s escalator, with Richardson following after him, sources said. When Richardson tried to drag the man through the station ticket gates, the CTA employee lost his balance and fell, according to people familiar with the matter.

Richardson then threw the man down the stairs and as the man lay in the stairwell, Richardson poured water from a bottle and tried to wake him up, sources familiar with the investigation said. CTA officials then beat the man with his hand, according to the report.

Richardson was then said to have pushed the man further down the stairs, at which point he appeared motionless, sources said.

Police spoke with Richardson during the initial investigation, but were unaware of his involvement until they saw video footage of the alleged attack, sources said. He was arrested on Saturday afternoon.

The Cook County coroner’s office has not publicly identified the man because his next of kin have not yet been notified of his death. The man’s cause of death was not disclosed.

The CTA is working with the Chicago Police Department to investigate, the agency said.

“Such conduct is an insult to the thousands of hardworking and dedicated men and women who serve CTA’s customers every day,” Carter said.

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