Violent firebug who set woman ablaze on Chicago train has a long rap sheet, had ‘no business being on the streets’

The violent career criminal busted for setting an innocent young woman on fire on a Chicago train had more than 70 prior arrests to his name as the feds rage that he “had no business being on the streets.” Lawrence Reed, 50, was hit with a federal terrorism charge after he was caught on camera dousing the 26-year-old woman in gasoline, chasing her through the train car and then setting her alight on Monday night, according to authorities. He is due in federal court Friday for the attack during which he allegedly shouted at his helpless victim, “Burn alive, bitch.” It has since emerged that Reed had a disturbing lengthy rap sheet and was out on pretrial release at the time for an aggravated battery charge. “Lawrence Reed had no business being on the streets given that his violent criminal history and his pending criminal cases,” outraged ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher Amon said. “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.” Records show that Reed had previously been arrested 71 times in Cook County alone and convicted in 13 of those cases, WGN reported. At the time of this week’s fiery horror, Reed was out on electronic home monitoring stemming from an alleged incident where he knocked a hospital social worker unconscious in August. Prosecutors had asked for Reed to remain locked up but a judge overruled them leaving him free to roam the streets. Despite his prior run-ins, US Attorney Andrew Boutros said he wasn’t aware of Reed ever legally being declared mentally incompetent. Mayor Brandon Johnson was among those to rail against the “absolute failure” of the system in the wake of Reed’s arrest. “This is an absolute failure of our criminal justice system as well as our mental health institutions,” Johnson said. “This individual was charged with dozens of felonies over the past three decades. He was clearly seriously mentally disturbed and was a danger to himself and to others. The system that we had failed to intervene. And now we have a woman who is fighting for her life and I am praying for her and her full recovery. This is a horrific tragedy that should have never happened.” The woman, who hasn’t been identified, remains in hospital in critical condition with severe burns to her head and body, authorities said. The attack has drawn comparisons to the August stabbing on a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina, that left 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska dead. “This horrific attack is EXACTLY why we need communities to take safety seriously. Blue cities cannot allow another Iryna Zarutska to happen,” Duffy Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/21/us-news/chicago-career-criminal-lawrence-reed-had-over-70-arrests-before-setting-woman-on-fire-in-train-attack/

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