The suspect with a lengthy criminal history and who was released after being accused in a violent August attack, has been federally charged after allegedly lighting a young woman on fire Monday on the Chicago Blue Line train and yelling “burn b—-.”

Lawrence Reed, 50, is charged with committing a terrorist attack or violence against a mass transportation system, according to a recently filed criminal complaint.

Federal prosecutors allege Reed intentionally used gasoline and a lighter to set a woman on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train at about 9:30 p.m. Monday. 

AMERICA’S COMMUTERS UNDER SIEGE AS VIOLENT TRANSIT CRIMES ENDANGER BLUE CITIES 

U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros said the woman was “minding her own business and reading her phone” while seated in the middle of the train car, when Reed approached her from the back of the car, doused her head and body with gasoline, and attempted to ignite the liquid.

The woman ran to the back of the car, as he ignited the rest of the liquid in the bottle and then used it to light her on fire, according to the complaint.

Footage allegedly showed Reed watching the woman, engulfed in flames, as she tried to put out the fire by rolling on the floor.

Boutros said as the woman was rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the fire, no one came to her aid.

When the train stopped at Clark and Lake, the complaint noted the victim, who was still on fire, managed to exit before collapsing on the platform.

“When she finally stumbled down, two Samaritans came and put out the blaze that was all consuming her,” Boutros said.

Graphic video footage captured at the scene showed Chicago Fire and EMS workers attempting to load the woman into an ambulance.

She suffered severe burns to her face and body and remains in critical condition, according to authorities.

SEE IT: VIDEO SHOWS CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING SUSPECT BEFORE ATTACK AND MINUTES BEFORE ARREST 

Prosecutors obtained photos showing Reed at a gas station about 20 minutes before the attack, where he was seen entering the store, paying the cashier and filling a small container with gasoline.

Other images showed Reed inside the train holding a flaming bottle as he approached the victim.

Reed allegedly exited the train after setting the woman on fire and walked away.

He was arrested Tuesday morning, still wearing the same clothing from the attack, and had burns on his right hand, according to the complaint. 

Officers noted he repeatedly yelled “burn b—-” and “burn alive b—-,” while being taken to the detective division.

Investigators recovered a partially melted bottle, lighter and clear liquid from the victim’s train seat, along with the remains of some of her clothing.

CHICAGO WOMAN SET ON FIRE DURING ARGUMENT ON CTA TRAIN, POLICE SAY

During Reed’s first appearance in federal court Wednesday, he allegedly shouted, “I plead guilty, I plead guilty, I plead guilty.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally asked him if he knew the maximum sentence was life in prison, to which he responded, “It’s cool, it’s cool, it’s cool.”

Following the hearing, ATF Special Agent in Charge Chris Amon commented on Reed’s “violent” criminal history and pending criminal cases, adding he “had no business being on the streets.”

“Reed had plenty of second chances by the criminal justice system, and as a result, you have an innocent victim in the hospital fighting for her life,” Amon said. “Because of the swift action of CPD, ATF and our law enforcement partners, there will be no other chances for Mr. Reed.”

McNally suggested a mental and medical evaluation, though Boutros noted Reed had not been declared mentally incompetent in connection with any of his prior charges.

Who is Chicago train attack suspect Lawrence Reed?

Records show Reed has a lengthy criminal history, including a charge of felony aggravated arson from April 2020, after he allegedly started a fire at the Thompson Center, where Gov. JB Pritzker was holding a daily COVID-19 briefing.

He also faced misdemeanor battery charges for punching multiple women in the face, seemingly at random, and slapping a 42-year-old man in the face at the Halsted CTA Blue Line platform, FOX 32 Chicago reported.

In August, Reed was charged with aggravated battery after allegedly assaulting a woman at a psychiatric hospital, CWB Chicago reported. Despite prosecutors’ request to keep him detained, he was released with an ankle monitor.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Chicago Police Department records indicate Reed was arrested on at least 13 occasions by their agency alone since 2017. His charges included:

• May 19, 2017: Driving with a revoked license, obstruction of traffic by motorist, driving in reverse, operator signal, uninsured motor vehicle
• April 2, 2018: Soliciting unlawful business, making prohibited transactions, jaywalking
• June 19, 2018: Criminal trespass to real property, criminal damage to property
• July 13, 2018: Battery, possession of a controlled substance
• April 1, 2019: Driving with a revoked license, three counts of no turn signals, operating an uninsured motor vehicle
• Dec. 29, 2019: Criminal damage to government property
• Feb. 21, 2020: Battery
• Feb. 28, 2020: Two counts of battery
• April 23, 2020: Aggravated arson knowing there is a person(s) present
• Dec. 4, 2021: Simple assault
• Dec. 21, 2021: Battery with intent to cause bodily harm
• June 1, 2022: Battery making physical contact
• Jan. 20, 2024: Criminal damage to property.

Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.

The statue looms and glints at more than 11 feet tall and weighing 3,500 pounds, looking out at the city with, how to put it … a characteristically stern expression?

Despite its daunting appearance and history as a crimefighter of last resort, the giant new bronze figure of the movie character RoboCop is being seen as a symbol of hope, drawing fans and eliciting selfie mania since it began standing guard over Detroit on Wednesday afternoon.

It has been 15 years in the making. Even in a snowstorm in the dark, people were driving by to see it, said Jim Toscano, co-owner of the Free Age film production company, where the statue now stands firmly bolted down near the sidewalk.

RoboCop hit theaters in 1987, portraying a near-future Detroit as crime-ridden and poorly protected by a beleaguered and outgunned police force, until actor Peter Weller appeared as a nearly invincible cyborg, apparently created by a nefarious corporation bent on privatizing policing.

There was a time when Detroit pushed back on anything pointing to its past reputation as an unsafe city, and the movie, which developed a cult following, spawning two sequels and a reboot, didn’t help its image.

But with violent crime trending down for years and homicide numbers now below mid-1960s levels there is less pushback and city officials offered no objections to the statue’s installation, Toscano said.

“Detroit has come a long way. You put in a little nostalgia and that helps,” he said.

The statue campaign appears to have started around 2010 when Detroit’s mayor, Dave Bing, was tagged in a tweet that noted Philadelphia’s statue of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa and said RoboCop would be a “GREAT ambassador for Detroit”.

Bing tweeted back, saying there were no such plans. But some Detroiters ran with the idea, crowdfunding it through a 2012 Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $67,000 from more than 2,700 backers worldwide, and Detroit sculptor Giorgio Gikas finished the statue in 2017. Then, it got stuck, stored away from public view.

The Michigan Science Center in Detroit ultimately nixed plans to host the sculpture in 2021, citing pressures from the coronavirus pandemic and the need to focus museum resources.

Things remained in limbo until about three years ago when Toscano’s company bought a building in Eastern Market, an open-air produce market, shopping and entertainment district just northeast of downtown. Toscano says he thought they were “kidding” when he was contacted by the creator of the statue idea and Eastern Market officials. But he and his business partner gladly came on board: “It’s too unusual, too unique, too cool not to do,” Toscano said.

Toscano, 48, says he has only viewed the first RoboCop movie.

“It wasn’t a big film in our house,” he admitted. But if there is one iconic line uttered by RoboCop that fits this moment, Toscano said it would be: “Thank you for your cooperation.”

On Thursday, James Campbell approached the statue and told three picture-takers: “I own this. Do you guys know that?” the Associated Press reported.

Campbell said he donated $100 to the original Kickstarter campaign over a decade ago, which makes him a “0.038 percent owner of this statue”.

“I’m here to see this big, beautiful, bronze piece of art,” he said. “What a piece of cinematic history to represent the city of Detroit,” he added.

Campbell called the statue a symbol of hope: “He’s a cyborg crime fighter! In the movie, in the futuristic Detroit, he’s there to save the city,” he said.

• Milwaukee County has appointed Joe Lamers as the new director of its Department of Transportation.
• The appointment follows the resignation of the previous director amid a significant transit budget deficit.
• Lamers previously served as the county’s director of the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.
• The county’s transit system continues to face substantial budget shortfalls in the coming years.

Milwaukee County has chosen a new director to steer the county Department of Transportation five months after the previous director stepped down in the wake of a transit deficit that caught officials off guard.

Joe Lamers, who has spent the last eight years as director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, will now head the transportation department, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the county executive’s office.

Lamers has been a pivotal player in the county’s efforts to become more fiscally sustainable as it faced a longstanding and ongoing structural deficit, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in the release. He has managed and developed recent budgets and led efforts to improve operations, grant development, public policy, and internal communications. The county’s reserve fund increased by about $90 million under his watch.

Lamers has also helped coordinate legislative affairs efforts, including negotiations for the state legislation known as Act 12, which delivered nearly $100 million in additional annual revenue for the county and addressed long-term pension funding challenges.

“Lamers has served my administration with integrity and expertise,” Crowley said. “His leadership in creating County budgets and initiatives has closed structural deficits and enhanced essential services for the community, including in public transit and transportation infrastructure.”

In late June, the county’s bus system agency, which is overseen and managed by the county DOT, blindsided local officials with news of a $10.9 million budget deficit, which now stands at $9 million after some course correcting. The shortfall resulted in service cuts in an effort to balance the agency’s budget.