A man has been accused of carrying a machete and knife on a CTA Green Line train in Austin last weekend.
Ronald Reed, 31, was stopped by Cook County sheriff’s officers about 2:15 p.m. July 11 after officers noticed him holding an open beer can on the train near the Austin stop, the sheriff’s office said.
Officers searched Reed and found a machete with an 18-inch blade in a sling on his back, and a knife with a 5-inch serrated blade in a holster, police said.
Bodycamera footage shows a sheriff’s officer asking Reed at the Green Line station if he has anything on him before he searches him.
“I got a machete,” Reed says in the video, telling the officer it’s on his back.
Reed, of West Garfield Park, was arrested and charged with one count each of felony unlawful possession of a weapon and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
A Cook County judge ordered him held in custody while he awaits trial.
Reed’s next court date was set for July 31.
Cook County sheriff’s deputies arrested Ronald Reed, 31, on July 11 after discovering he was carrying weapons aboard a Chicago Transit Authority Green Line train near the Austin station on the northbound route. The arrest followed reports from transit staff that Reed had been consuming alcohol from an open container while aboard the train.
During a subsequent search of Reed’s belongings, officers recovered an 18-inch machete strapped across his back and a 5-inch serrated knife stored in a belt holster. Body camera footage captured Reed voluntarily disclosing the machete’s location to a deputy before a complete search of his possessions was conducted.
Reed, a West Garfield Park resident, faces one felony count of unlawful weapon possession and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. A Cook County judge denied him bond and ordered him held pending trial, with the case scheduled for further proceedings on July 31.
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