Category: Aggravated battery
Violent repeat offenders — 1 was arrested 14 previous times — accused of attempted murder, sexual abuse in two Chicago cases
Two violent repeat offenders — one of whom had been arrested 14 previous times — are accused of attempted murder, sexual abuse, and aggravated battery in separate cases in Chicago.
The first suspect is accused of sexually abusing a woman inside a Chicago Transit Authority elevator at the Jackson Red Line station in the Loop on Tuesday, CWB Chicago reported.
Briana Bush last week also was charged with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with the stabbing of a 24-year-old man, the outlet said.
Kurtis Porter is charged with criminal sexual abuse by force and aggravated battery of a transit passenger, the outlet said.
Porter allegedly followed a 29-year-old woman into the elevator around 5:40 p.m., the outlet said, adding that police said CTA security video shows Porter obstructing the surveillance camera upon entering the elevator.
The victim told police Porter exposed himself, sexually abused her, and grabbed her face during the attack, the outlet said.
Police and CTA distributed an internal bulletin that included images of Porter, the outlet said, adding that a CTA supervisor recognized Porter hours later and notified nearby patrol officers.
Judge Shauna Boliker on Friday ordered Porter detained, the outlet said. Cook County Jail records indicate that Porter — a 30-year-old — is behind bars on no bond.
More from CWB Chicago:
CPD records show Porter has been arrested 14 other times since becoming an adult in 2014, mostly for misdemeanors, but court files show nearly all of those charges were dropped. The only exceptions were a 2019 domestic battery case that ended with court supervision he did not complete satisfactorily and two trespassing charges at the same Old Town building that resulted in a 14-day sentence in November.
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune
The second suspect — a 21-year-old female already on probation in connection with a violent 2024 robbery aboard a CTA train — has been charged with attempted murder, CWB Chicago said in a separate story.
Briana Bush last week also was charged with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with the stabbing of a 24-year-old man, the outlet said.
Officials told the outlet Bush was fighting the man and a 37-year-old woman aboard a Red Line train at 69th Street on Jan. 5 when Bush allegedly stabbed the man and left the scene. The victim was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition, the outlet added.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. detained Bush at the state’s request, the outlet said.
Bush had been on probation in connection with a group robbery aboard a Red Line train in July 2024, the outlet said, citing court records.
More from CWB Chicago:
In that case, CTA surveillance footage allegedly showed Bush punching a 29-year-old man as he slept on the train near 95th Street and taking his phone. Police arrested Bush shortly after she fled the scene with the victim’s phone in her pocket, authorities said.
Bush was also charged with escaping electronic monitoring while awaiting trial in the robbery case, but prosecutors dropped that matter when she pleaded guilty to the robbery in September. Judge Peggy Chiampas sentenced Bush to two years of probation for the robbery.
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Repeat offender allegedly strikes again — this time beating up female doctor in hospital parking garage in unprovoked attack
A rampant repeat offender who reportedly was arrested a dozen times this year alone is accused of beating up a female doctor in a Chicago hospital parking garage elevator in an unprovoked attack.
According to a Sunday CWB Chicago report, prosecutors said 39-year-old Sean Popps followed a 42-year-old cardiologist into the elevator in the parking garage at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Streeterville campus just after 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2 and began repeatedly punching her in the head as she stumbled backward and covered her face with her hands.
Popps also was arrested seven times in 2024, again in almost every case mostly on or near the hospital grounds, the outlet said.
A Chicago police report said the victim suffered multiple bruises, scrapes, and hematomas to her face, head, arm, and hand, the outlet reported.
What’s more, officials said she had no prior contact with Popps and that the attack was completely unprovoked, according to CWB Chicago.
More from the outlet:
A Northwestern security officer instantly recognized Popps from surveillance video, citing “approximately 30 plus prior incidents at the hospital where [Popps] had to be removed,” a detention petition stated. Another Northwestern officer reported having “incidents with [Popps] approximately two times a day over the last 19 months.”
At the time of the attack, Popps was on pretrial release for allegedly trespassing at a Streeterville residential building in October and attempting to escape from the police station lockup afterward.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
CWB Chicago reported that police have arrested Popps a dozen times this year — and in almost every case for allegedly trespassing or damaging property on or near the hospital.
Popps also was arrested seven times in 2024, again in almost every case mostly on or near the hospital grounds, the outlet said. He also was arrested at the hospital two times in 2020, twice in 2021, once in 2022, and once in 2023, CWB Chicago added.
Judge Anthony Calabrese ordered Popps detained on a charge of aggravated battery in a public place, the outlet said. Jail records indicate his next court date is Dec. 30 and he has no bond.
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