Witnesses Back Up Conductor After Another Passenger Hits Conductor at Downtown Metra Station

Man leaves the Metra train platform in downtown Arlington Heights after struggling with conductor.

A passenger disembarking on the Metra Train 651, arriving just after 6:30 p.m. Monday at the downtown Arlington Heights station, struck a conductor after “they had words” near the exit of the train. Witnesses said the male/white passenger took a swing at the conductor and hit him in the head. The conductor hit back and the struggle then looked pretty much like a one-on-one hockey brawl, according to witnesses.

Metra train 651 is a long train that stops at Clybourn and then Arlington Heights downtown after leaving Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago at 6:01 p.m weeknights. A conductor in the lead car passenger car hustled toward the struggle for backup of the other conductor near a trailing passenger car of the train that was being pushed by a locomotive.

The passenger in the fight said he was going to call 9-1-1 for the police after the struggle, but an overwhelming number of witnesses told the passenger they would support the conductor, since the passenger struck first. The man said the conductor struck first, but witnesses overwhelmingly told the man that they witnessed that he caused the disturbance, and the witnesses told the man they would inform the police that he threw the first punch.

The passenger walked away, and the conductors decided to move the train to its next destination. Apparently the police were not called.

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