Metra Rider Ranted At Son, Beat Judge Who Commented: Report

CHICAGO, IL — A woman beat a fellow passenger — who happened to be a Lake County judge — during a Union Pacific North train ride, according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times. The mother began berating her son as the train was leaving, prosecutors said, and the judge intervened, according to the report. The incident happened Saturday around 12:30 a.m. as train No. 301 was leaving the Ogilvie Transportation Center, the Sun-Times reported.

Elizabeth Pope, 33, was taking the train to her home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her son, according to the report. The mother began a profanity-laced rant at her 14-year-old son, and allegedly told him, "You are a f-- idiot."

The 57-year-old judge, who was sitting on the lower level of the train, made eye contact with the boy and told him, "You are not an idiot,"according to prosecutors.

Pope, who allegedly smelled of alcohol, told the woman to stop talking to her son, then walked to the lower level and began beating the judge, prosecutors said. According to the Sun-Times report, Pope threw punches, hit the judge in the face with a cellphone and threw the phone down the aisle, prosecutors said.

The judge was bleeding from the beating and pleaded with a fellow passenger to call the conductor, according to the report. Pope went back up to sit with her son, and was arrested at Ogilvie, court records show.

The judge was taken to a hospital and required five stitches to her upper lip, as well as treatments for bruising and swelling on her face, according to the Sun-Times.

Pope was charged with aggravated battery in a public place. She has two previous battery convictions and another pending battery case, according to the Sun-Times. Her bail was set at $70,000, and she was ordered to be placed on electronic home monitoring if she posts bond.

Image via Chicago Police Department