Maniac repeat offender accused of setting Chicago train rider on fire now charged with trying to torch City Hall
Lawrence Reed, 50, has been charged again after a recent indictment alleged that he “maliciously damaged and attempted to damage and destroy” Chicago’s City Hall on Nov. 14.
According to court documents, he tried to set the building on fire but the blaze was contained before it spread, and mayor Brandon Johnson said no damage resulted.
Three days after that attempt, Reed went on a CTA train and, while sitting at the back of a Blue Line L car, poured gasoline from a plastic bottle on the back of an unidentified woman.
The victim, described as “soft spoken” Bethany MaGee, managed to flee the carriage, but was soon ignited. She was hurled from the train, collapsed on the platform, and was rushed to the hospital where she sustained burns on over 60 % of her body.
Reed did not cooperate during his arrest. He reportedly shouted, “Burn alive, bitch,” before being taken into custody on federal terrorism charges that could lead to life imprisonment.
Reed’s record is extensive: more than 70 prior arrests, 15 convictions in Cook County, and only two and a half years spent in prison.
Prosecutors had wanted him to remain jailed after he allegedly knocked a psychiatric hospital worker unconscious in August, but a judge overruled them, freeing him to roam the city.
One of his earlier arrests involved an aggravated arson charge for dousing the Thompson Center government building with liquid and setting it aflame before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was slated to speak at a press conference.
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