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Lawrence Reed, charged with setting woman on fire on CTA, indicted for separate March attack

The man who is charged with terrorism for allegedly setting a woman on fire on a CTA Blue Line train has now been indicted for two other random attacks earlier this year.

Lawrence Reed, 50, is facing federal charges of committing a terrorist attack or other violence on a mass transportation system. Prosecutors say around 9 p.m. on Nov. 17, Reed approached a 26-year-old Bethany McGee, who was reading her phone on an O'Hare-bound Blue Line train, poured liquid on her and set her on fire without provocation.

"The surveillance video is difficult to watch, and very disturbing, as a young woman was set ablaze, and tried to put herself out, while other passengers got out of the way or watched," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros.

When the train stopped at Clark/Lake, McGee got off and collapsed on the platform. Sources told CBS News Chicago more than half of her body was burned. She was taken to Stroger Hospital where she remains in critical condition.

A CBS News Investigation found Reed was previously arrested more than 70 times and was on an ankle monitor with a curfew after an alleged violent attack in August on a social worker at a psychiatric hospital at the time he set the woman on fire.

Now Reed has been indicted for physically attacking two CTA passengers on March 27. Police said shortly before 7:15 p.m., a 23-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man were on the train a man, now identified as Reed, approached the woman, made physical contact with her and attempted to sexually assaulted. The man tried to intervene and was battered by Reed, police said.

Reed then tried to run away, Chicago police said, but he was taken into custody by CPD and to Rush Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.

Both of the victims declined medical attention at the time, CPD said.

Reed's latest attack and arrest have raised questions about the efficacy of electronic monitoring. A report on Reed showed he had violated his curfew five times in the days leading up to the November fire attack, including the day of.

Many of the violations were escalated alerts where Reed was out for ours, sometimes overnight.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said in a letter that the pretrial services division gets 8,500 electronic monitoring alerts a week. Those alerts are supposed to be reported to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, but that practice was paused when the SAO raised concerns about the number of alerts they were getting, Evans said.

The State's Attorney's Office rejected Evans' claims and letter, calling it "shameful." They said they were not notified of Reed's violations at any point in the week leading up to the Blue Line attack; they were only notified on Nov. 19.

Reed remains held in federal custody as he awaits trial for the Nov. 17 attack. 

CBS News has reached out to Chicago police and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for comment and are waiting to hear back. 

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