CHICAGO — A man accused of lighting a woman on fire on the CTA Blue Line last month has been indicted on additional federal charges alleging he lit a fire outside City Hall three days earlier.

Lawrence Reed, 50, was charged in a two-count indictment made public Thursday with terrorism against a mass transportation system and arson involving a public building.

The bare-bones indictment does not provide any details into the City Hall fire. However, Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters last month that occurred at about 11 p.m. on Nov. 14, when surveillance cameras captured someone igniting a fire outside the building at 121 N. LaSalle St. The person fled the scene and the fire did not spread, the mayor said at the time.

Three days later, federal prosecutors say Reed approached a young woman on a Blue Line train as it neared downtown, poured gasoline over her head and set her on fire. The woman suffered third-degree burns and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was last reported to be in critical condition.

Reed has been in custody since his arrest the next day. U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally scheduled an arraignment on the indictment for Friday afternoon.

The case has garnered national headlines for its brutality. It’s also been held up by President Donald Trump and others in conservative circles as an example of what they say is a revolving door of crime in mostly blue cities, where violent offenders remain free despite mounting arrests.

Court records show Reed has a history of mental illness that has been a factor in several earlier criminal cases, including a 2020 attempt at setting the Thompson Center on fire.

At the time of the Blue Line attack, Reed was on pretrial release for an aggravated battery case stemming from charges that he allegedly hit a social worker in the face in a Berwyn hospital so hard the alleged victim lost consciousness.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Reed was captured on surveillance footage filling a bottle with gasoline at a Garfield Park gas station about 30 minutes before the Blue Line attack took place, then getting on a train at the Kedzie stop before he allegedly approached the victim.

After using a lighter to ignite the fire, Reed allegedly stood at the front of the train car and watched as the 26-year-old woman, “engulfed in flames,” rolled on the floor of the train trying to snuff out the blaze, according to the complaint. She was able to get off when the train pulled into the Clark/Lake station, where two bystanders came to her aid.

Speaking to reporters after Reed was charged last month, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said the surveillance video from the train is “difficult to watch” and showed there was no altercation between Reed and the victim before the incident.

“(She) was minding her own business and reading her phone when the defendant doused her with gasoline and lit her on fire,” Boutros said. Other passengers, he said, either “got out of the way” or simply watched while she desperately tried to put herself out.

Reed was arrested a day later while walking near Daley Plaza. As Chicago police officers drove him to a West Side station for questioning, Reed yelled, “Burn alive, (expletive),” from the back seat, according to the complaint.

His erratic behavior continued at his first court appearance on Nov. 19, where he immediately started shouting over McNally, saying, “I plead guilty! I plead guilty!” over and over. As the judge tried to continue with the hearing by advising him of his rights, Reed said, “Don’t talk to me!” and started singing “la-la-la-la” to drown her out.

A prosecutor later told the judge they were seeking detention based on a danger to the community and the fact that the charge carries a maximum of life in prison, prompting Reed to shout, “What’s my charge?”

“Terrorist attack?” Reed said, shooting his head back. “Terrorist attack? Terrorism? Is that my charge? You said terrorism is my charge?”

After McNally confirmed it, Reed repeated: “It’s cool, it’s cool, it’s cool, it’s cool.”

The attack on the CTA was the latest in a long line of charges for Reed that appeared to be worsening.

In July 2021, Reed was convicted of aggravated arson after he poured gasoline along a window ledge of the Thompson Center, which at the time was home to much of the state of Illinois’ Chicago operations, and tried to set the fluid on fire, court records show.

He was sentenced to two years of mental health probation, which court records show he completed in December 2023.

Two years earlier, he’d been arrested and charged with criminal damage to government property for smashing out windows on a Blue Line train, for which he was later sentenced to two years of probation, records show.

_____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.