A short-lived series of bizarre crimes began with a man trying to exit a parking garage without any money and ended with a torched Cadillac SUV and the man’s arrest on a CTA platform, Chicago police said of an arson case they’re investigating.
Timothy Barfield, 27, was charged with arson causing more than $150 in damage, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle, all felonies.
About 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, a man told the on-site security officer at the garage in the first block of East Randolph Street in the Loop, that he “did not have any money to pay for the parking ticket,” according to a media notification from Chicago police.
So the security officer, a 42-year-old man, went to manually lift the parking gate arm so he could “gather the vehicle information,” Officer Jessica Rocco, a spokeswoman for Chicago police, wrote in an email.
That’s when the SUV lurched forward.
“The offender accelerated and the victim was able to move out of the way. The vehicle struck the victim on the right side of the body,” Rocco said.
The security guard later refused medical assistance for his “minor injuries.”
Rocco wouldn’t specify whether the gate arm was broken, but said “damage to the parking garage occurred during this incident.”
The driver continued on to State Street, parking near the CTA State and Lake “L” station at 188 N. State St., officials said.
After parking the black Cadillac SUV, police said “he set the vehicle on fire and fled on foot.”
Rocco wasn’t able to comment on whether the vehicle was a total loss, saying the arson portion of the case remained under investigation.
The man later was caught on the Red Line platform and arrested. He was taken to a hospital for an evaluation after experiencing an “unrelated medical issue,” Rocco said.
Authorities would not initially comment on whether the vehicle had been stolen, but after charges against the man were announced Wednesday afternoon, Officer Anthony Spicuzza, a police spokesman, said the Cadillac had been reported stolen from Lincolnwood.
Barfield is expected to appear Thursday for a bond hearing.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews
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