RTA police arrested a man after he allegedly threw hot coffee on a woman and her four children on the Red Line train at the Tower City stop earlier this month.
On the morning of Friday, August 3, a woman told an RTA officer she and her four children boarded the Red Line train at the East 55th Street station and noticed a man later identified as Stevie Wilson at the rear of the train. They sat in the center and saw Wilson swearing and talking to himself.
As the train stopped at the Tower City station, Wilson proceeded to the center of the train instead of exiting out the rear, according to the RTA police report. As he passed the family, he turned to them and threw his hot coffee onto them while screaming profanity. The coffee burned the woman’s son and caused significant discoloring of his skin. Wilson then exited the train at Tower City.
RTA police then saw Wilson arguing with a train operator at the Tower City stop, according to the report. He abruptly spun around and threw an unknown object at her. The RTA officer took Wilson to the ground and handcuffed him. As he was being escorted away, he spouted profanity at them and promised to come back and beat the officers after he got out of jail.
Wilson was charged with two counts of assault, felonious assault, and two counts of misconduct involving a public transportation system. He was arraigned on Thursday, August 16 and bond was set at $50,000. He was declared indigent and assigned a public defender. He was also determined to be eligible for the mental health court docket, which is specifically for defendants with severe mental health issues.
