A man shot a CTA bus driver in the jaw over the weekend after the driver asked him to step off the bus when it reached the end of the line in the Loop, according to prosecutors.
Dennis Green, 38, went up to the driver, yelled at him and then spit in his face around 9 p.m. Saturday in the first block of West Washington Street, prosecutors said during a hearing Tuesday.
Green then left the bus and was followed by the driver, who tried to escort Green to Chicago police cars nearby, prosecutors said. The two struggled outside the bus, and Green took out a handgun and shot the driver.
A witness heard the gunshot and saw the driver fall to the ground, prosecutors said. The witness called 911 and described the shooter while Green ran south down Garland Court and discarded his jacket.
Police arrested Green near Wabash and Jackson. A loaded 9mm handgun with a defaced serial number allegedly fell from his pocket. The entire incident was recorded on surveillance video, prosecutors said.
Paramedics took the driver, 34, to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound that fractured his lower jaw. The driver is unable to speak and must undergo more surgery in the coming days, prosecutors said.
Green has four previous convictions for unauthorized use of a weapon by a felon, attempted burglary, aggravated robbery and drug possession.
Green lives in Chicago with his godmother and has three children, his attorney said. Green went to Marshall High School until the 10th grade and has a certificate in carpentry, the attorney said.
Judge John Lyke called the allegations “outrageous” and ordered Green held without bail.
Green is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery to a transit employee, armed habitual criminal and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number.
His next court date is Sept. 15.
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