A 28-year-old man accused of stabbing at least three sleeping homeless men “like they were prey” was ordered held without bail Saturday.
Bryant McCalip was arrested Thursday and faces three felony counts each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery for the series of attacks over the last month.
His family members called the police when they recognized him in surveillance stills depicting the most recent stabbing, which happened Tuesday aboard a Red Line CTA train near 95th Street, according to Cook County prosecutors.
The video allegedly shows McCalip sitting in front of a sleeping 40-year-old man for several minutes before stabbing him in the neck at least twice, prosecutors said.
Other CTA footage shows McCalip walking through cars prior to the 3:40 a.m. attack, and activity on a Ventra card registered to his name and phone number corroborated the report, prosecutors said.
Two other attacks in July followed a similar pattern. Prosecutors said McCalip wore the same gray hoodie with red lettering on the front and watched his sleeping victims for several minutes before carrying out each attack with his left hand.
On July 15, McCalip allegedly watched a 30-year-old man sleeping at the 63rd Street Red Line station from across the street before stabbing the victim at least five times, prosecutors said.
And a pod camera recorded McCalip July 24 riding a Divvy bike around a bench in Grant Skate Park where a 53-year-old man was sleeping, prosecutors said. He sat there for a few minutes before allegedly stabbing him in the neck, and then biked away as the victim got up to find help.
Each of the sleeping victims survived the attacks. Prosecutors said McCalip is suspected in the fatal stabbing of another homeless man but has not been charged in that case.
A public defender said McCalip lives with his brother and sister and was laid off as a carwash attendant due to the pandemic.
Cook County Judge John Lyke Jr. called the allegations against McCalip “despicable acts.”
“I’ve been around for a very long time, and from what I heard, if this is true, this is the epitome of evil,” Lyke said. “This defendant stalked these people like they were prey and ended up stabbing them and watched as they suffered.”
McCalip is expected back in court on Aug 28.
