A man accused of carrying out a string of unprovoked attacks against CTA passengers was arrested only after he wandered into a suburban children’s day camp and assaulted two kids and a camp counselor, according to court records.
Daron Gray, 32, is charged in connection with four attacks in May and June on CTA train lines. But by the time detectives had enough evidence to arrest him, he was already in Cook County Jail, held on allegations of attacking summer campers in west suburban River Forest.
Prosecutors said Gray attacked passengers on CTA L lines on four separate occasions, battering passengers unprovoked before fleeing the scene.
- On May 8, prosecutors allege, Gray punched a 31-year-old man in the face multiple times at the 35th-Archer Orange Line station in a random attack, fracturing the man’s nose and cheekbone and giving him a mild concussion.
- On June 11, prosecutors said, he punched a 44-year-old woman in the back of the head at the Central Park Pink Line station. Chicago police issued a community alert about that attack and asked anyone who recognized the man in surveillance images to contact detectives. The alert generated tips that eventually helped investigators build a case against Gray, prosecutors said, though the attacks continued while the investigation was underway.
- On June 17, Gray allegedly touched a 23-year-old woman’s breasts during a robbery attempt at the Chicago Avenue Brown Line station.
- On June 21, he struck a woman in the face and head with a metal rod on a Green Line train near Kedzie, causing her to suffer headaches and a sore neck, prosecutors said.
Two days later, Gray encountered a group of summer campers, all under age 11, walking through G.A.R. Woods in River Forest. He pushed and spat on two of the children before moving away from the group, prosecutors said, then ran back toward them. A camp counselor intervened, and prosecutors allege Gray slapped the woman and yelled at her. Police arrested him nearby…