A guy charged of putting gas on a female and establishing her ablaze on a Chicago L train in an unwarranted assault will certainly stay captive, a court ruled on Friday, stating he positions a risk to the area.
The suspect– Lawrence Reed, 50, of Chicago– encounters a government terrorism fee of what district attorneys called a “terrible and terrible assault” that left the sufferer with serious burns.
Throughout an apprehension hearing on Friday, Reed decreased lawful advice and chose to represent himself, informing the court he would certainly additionally such as to be restrained for his safety and security, Chicago ABC terminal WLS reported.
The assault happened Monday evening near the Clark and Lake terminal on a Chicago Transportation Authority Blue Line train and was caught on CTA safety and security video clip, authorities stated.
Authorities stated Reed was additionally caught on monitoring video footage filling out a container at a filling station pump 20 mins prior to purportedly putting the fluid on the sufferer and afterwards, after she combated him off and escaped, lighting her ablaze. District attorneys stated the safety and security video footage plainly records the suspect’s face.

A screengrab from monitoring video footage consisted of in a government grievance that district attorneys state programs Lawrence Reed on a Chicago Blue Line train holding a lit container, Nov. 17, 2025.
united state Lawyer’s Workplace for the Northern Area of Illinois
The sufferer, a 26-year-old female, had actually been resting on the train considering her phone with her back to the suspect when she was arbitrarily struck, district attorneys stated.
She was moved to a neighborhood medical facility terminally ill with serious burns. She stays hospitalized with important injuries, district attorneys stated Wednesday.
Reed was detained the complying with day and billed with devoting a terrorist assault versus a mass transport system. He has actually not yet gotten in an appeal, on-line court documents reveal.
District attorneys had actually asked the court to restrain the suspicious pending test, saying in a movement in advance of Friday’s court hearing that he “provides a clear risk and consistent danger of horror to the area” based upon the situations of the criminal offense and his criminal background.
” The state court system has actually been not able to include offender’s terrible criminal activities, and government treatment is currently required,” united state Lawyer for the Northern Area of Illinois Andrew Boutros composed in the federal government’s apprehension movement.
Reed has actually been detained by Chicago authorities a minimum of 72 times over the previous thirty years, with a minimum of 15 of the apprehensions given that 2016, according to the declaring.
He has roughly 15 sentences, consisting of for criminal damages to federal government home, medication property and an arson occurrence in 2020 in which he lit a federal government structure in midtown Chicago ablaze, according to the declaring.

A screengrab from monitoring video footage consisted of in a government grievance that district attorneys state programs Lawrence Reed at a filling station in Chicago, Nov. 17, 2025.
united state Lawyer’s Workplace for the Northern Area of Illinois
At the time of Monday’s assault, Reed was dealing with intensified battery fees in the Circuit Court of Chef Region for striking a person in the head at a health center in Berwyn, Illinois, 3 months earlier, according to the declaring. A court purchased him launched from custodianship on digital tracking “over the argument of the Chef Region State’s Lawyer’s Workplace,” and one more court later on eliminated the problem of digital tracking, according to Boutros. He was gotten to comply with a time limit that would certainly not have actually enabled him out of his home at the time the train assault happened, Boutros stated.
” Accused has actually been leniently dealt with in state court, consisting of obtaining probationary sentences for terrible offenses and pre-trial launch for a victim-involved criminal offense,” Boutros composed. “For such tolerant therapy, offender has constantly re-offended and dove even more right into crime.”
Boutros additionally said Reed’s actions throughout his preliminary court look on Wednesday– in which he “interrupted the procedures by vocal singing, squealing, and advising the Court to not talk to him”– reveals that he is additionally “not able or reluctant to comply at this phase in the procedures.”
Based upon his conduct throughout the hearing, the court advised Reed undertake an emotional analysis, according to court documents.