Chicago Man Stabbed For Helping Woman Who Was Being Harassed On Bus


A 22-year-old Chicago man was stabbed for helping a woman and her children who were being harassed on a Chicago Transit Authority bus on Monday. He was on his way to a physical therapy session for a hand injury when he noticed a woman and her children were being harassed by a man and two women. Apparently, the woman had placed a stroller in a place where they didn’t like it. When the Chicago Transit bus driver didn’t intervene, Jose Santiago felt like he couldn’t just stand by and let the situation escalate.

“He was like yelling at her and telling her that she can’t put it there. It looked like she didn’t really speak good English and he kept being rude to her. Then I seen him kick the stroller and there was a baby in the stroller. I had to get up. I was like, what if he hits the lady next?”

So, Santiago got up from his seat in the back of the bus and walked to the front where the woman was being harassed. He asked the woman if she needed help, and then began helping her get her stroller moved to another area. Santiago said the man confronted him, getting in his face and asking him, “What are you trying to do?” He said he told the man that he had only been trying to help the lady. At the time, he thought he had diverted the attention off of the woman and her children and that the situation was over.

When Santiago got off the bus at his destination, however, he realized the situation was far from over, never imagining he would be stabbed simply for helping someone. The group of harassers followed him off the bus, and he saw one of the women hand the man a knife. The man first tried to stab Santiago twice. Santiago slipped on some gravel and, when he attempted to get up, the man stabbed him in the right shoulder area and then left him there.

Fortunately, a second good Samaritan was in the vicinity at the time Santiago was stabbed and came to his aid. He was emotional when telling Chicago’s ABC7 his story.

“He saved me. I could have been passed out in the street if it weren’t for him.”

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
After the bystander came to Jose Santiago’s aid, he was transported to a Chicago hospital where he underwent surgery, helping to remove fluid from his lung. He remained hospitalized three days later when he spoke to reporters. The knife had penetrated his lung when he was stabbed and he lost a significant amount of blood, but is expected to make a full recovery. In spite of what the young man went through, he said he wouldn’t hesitate before helping another person in need, and that he hopes to meet the man who came to his assistance. Bystanders took photos with their cell phones and handed them to police, which resulted in the arrest of 23-year-old Gildalthi Rodriguez, says Fox News Latino.

Santiago’s family verbalized disgust with Chicago over the fact that he’s only been charged with misdemeanor battery. His sister, Elizabeth Ramos, said it “should have been, literally, attempted murder.”

Santiago’s mother, Gladys Santiago, says she wasn’t at all surprised by her son’s heroism, and that she’s proud of him for his heroic actions.

“Very proud of him, very proud of him. He’s just suffering right now. Severe pain and I can’t believe someone could do this to an innocent bystander. That’s just who he is, who my son is. That’s how I raised him. All my kids, to never pick on nobody, if somebody needs help, help them.”

The Santiago family has expressed gratitude for the man at the scene for helping Jose and hopes they will have the opportunity to find him and thank him. They’re also thankful for the other witnesses who took photographs that led to the arrest of the man who stabbed him. Police have not said whether any other arrests are pending at this time. Sadly, a young Chicago man remains hospitalized after being stabbed for merely helping a woman and her children who were being harassed on a city bus.

[Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images]

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