Lawsuit alleges CTA failed to protect passenger
The family of a man fatally stabbed while sleeping on a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train in January is suing the agency, alleging it failed to provide him with adequate security.
Dominique Pollion, 37, was stabbed twice in a train car around 2:15 m. on Jan. 10, while his attacker recorded the incident on his phone. Pollion was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court by the firm Romanucci & Blandin on behalf of Pollion's grandmother, Shirley Pollion-Hines, alleges the CTA and its private security officers failed to respond until the train arrived at the Clark and Lake station. According to the suit, security guards stood by as the attacker continued recording Pollion and then left without being detained.
The complaint includes nine allegations of wrongdoing, including wrongful death, negligence, survival action, and willful and wanton misconduct. It names the CTA, the alleged attacker, and two private security contractors—Monterrey Security and Action K-9 Security—as defendants. The suit seeks a jury trial.
'CTA has abandoned people'
At a Tuesday news conference announcing the lawsuit, Pollion-Hines said, "Words cannot express how I feel as his grandmother." She added, "God would have forgiven Dominique's killer, and our family is trying to do that. But what we cannot forgive is how CTA has abandoned people, like Dominique, who count on public transportation to live their lives."
Michael Cerasa, a lawyer with Romanucci & Blandin representing Pollion-Hines, said, "He should have been able to relax peacefully on the Blue Line and arrive safely at his destination. Instead, he was failed by a transit agency and their contractors."
Cerasa stated that the CTA had a long history of violent crime and failed to take basic security steps. The lawsuit cites "CTA's known and documented security failures" and argues that "had the CTA maintained adequate security and surveillance during overnight hours, or had appropriate follow-up occurred after the prior police encounter with Thurman on the Blue Line, the attack on Mr. Pollion could have been prevented."
Alleged attacker charged with murder
Chicago police identified and arrested Demetrius Thurman, 40, of the Woodlawn neighborhood, charging him with first-degree murder. Detectives found a video on Thurman's phone of the fatal stabbing and photos of sleeping CTA passengers, according to the lawsuit.
Prosecutors alleged at Thurman's initial detention hearing that Pollion had been sleeping on the train for about an hour when Thurman approached with a phone in one hand and a knife in the other. After stabbing Pollion twice, Thurman filmed himself as Pollion backed down the aisle. The complaint states that Thurman recorded the stabbing and also filmed officers after his arrest.
Thurman pleaded not guilty to three felony charges, including first-degree murder. He remains in jail until trial, with his next hearing scheduled for later this month.
Security contractors' roles and responses
The lawsuit alleges that the security contractors were negligent for not detecting the weapon, failing to communicate, and delaying raising an alarm. Action K-9 Security, which was awarded an $89-million, two-year contract last year, allegedly notified the train operator with hand gestures about "a sick passenger" rather than reporting the attack.
Monterrey Security declined to comment, noting its records show no guards patrolling the Blue Line or Clark and Lake station at the time. A Monterrey spokesperson said the company had not been served with the lawsuit and that personnel were not assigned to those locations at the time of the incident. Action K-9 Security did not respond to a request for comment.
A CTA spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation.
The CTA ended its contract with Monterrey Security in April. Action K-9 Security was sued last month for a separate incident at the 95th Street Red Line station.
The attack occurred amid heightened scrutiny of transit safety. In November, a 26-year-old woman was doused with gasoline and lit on fire while riding the Blue Line downtown. The Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding unless the CTA addressed crime. The CTA boosted law enforcement staffing hours by 75% and brought in Cook County sheriff's police. By spring, FBI-classified serious crimes were down nearly 29% year-over-year on the CTA within city limits. The feds backed off funding threats after the CTA submitted a revised security plan in March.
Pollion-Hines said, "Don't ever doubt that CTA failed Dominique on that day of his death."