A CTA bus driver was stabbed Friday night when he confronted a man he saw pickpocket a woman on an eastbound North Avenue bus in the Lincoln Park area, police said.

       Daniel Pelt, 63, has been charged in the stabbing, police said Sunday. He faces charges of aggravated battery to a transit employee and aggravated battery with the use of a deadly weapon, both felonies.

       Judge David R. Navarro on Sunday ordered Pelt, who has 18 prior felony convictions, held on $5,000 bail, and he was barred from any unlawful contact with CTA property.

       At about 9:20 p.m. Friday, the 37-year-old CTA bus driver allegedly saw Pelt pickpocket a woman while on the bus in the 300 block of West North Avenue in the city’s Old Town Triangle neighborhood, police said.

       During a brief bail hearing broadcast on YouTube, prosecutors told the judge that the bus driver noticed Pelt steal a wallet from the grocery cart of another passenger and pulled over to confront him.

       As the driver tried to keep Pelt from fleeing, Pelt pulled a knife and stabbed the driver in the hand before fleeing the scene through an alley, Assistant State’s Attorney Andrea Williams told the court.

       The driver was taken to an area hospital, where he received stitches, authorities said. The incident was captured on the bus surveillance system and a witness recorded the attacker as he ran away, authorities said. Pelt was later arrested near a Brown Line train platform.

       Authorities said most of Pelt’s prior convictions were drug-related but included an attempt aggravated robbery from 1996. His court-appointed attorney said Pelt suffered from several mental health issues.

       Pelt is scheduled to return to court next week.

       Tribune reporter William Lee contributed to this report.

       dawiliams@chicagotribune.com.

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