Chicago Tribune

How tips led to arrest in Chicago subway pushing — after police kept quiet for a month

CHICAGO - In the days after a man was shoved off a subway platform in Chicago's Loop, detectives say they tried calling the victim and finally sent him a letter.

Little more than a week after the Aug. 1 attack on the Blue Line, police suspended their investigation without hearing back from him - even though surveillance video showed a man pushing Ben Benedict onto the tracks and keeping him from getting back onto the platform, according to newly obtained records.

They did so without issuing any public alerts or pleas for information about the seemingly random attack, which left Benedict with a sprained wrist but no serious injuries.

There would be no progress in the case until early September, after the Tribune published a story about the incident and calls started coming into the department, the records show.

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