A man who has gained notoriety as one of Chicago’s infamous “Loop Punchers,” recognized for randomly assaulting women downtown, was apprehended once more on Thursday morning after allegedly striking a woman in the face in River Northâless than two weeks following his release pretrial for a different assault.
According to Chicago police, 37-year-old Derek Rucker was taken into custody around 11:08 a.m. in the first block of East Grand Avenue, shortly after he reportedly punched a 44-year-old woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground in the 500 block of North State Street.
Rucker, who is also known by the names Derrick Davis and Derek Davis, is described as being approximately 6â6â tall and weighing about 250 pounds, according to officials.
He was already on pretrial release for an alleged assault on a 23-year-old woman at the Loyola Red Line station on September 30, a case that prosecutors have since escalated to a felony. On the same day, police reported that Rucker also attacked an on-duty Evanston police officer in the 300 block of Ridge Avenue.
Detectives have linked Rucker to several other random assaults across the North Side. He is now facing charges related to an October 8 attack on a 40-year-old woman in the 4600 block of North Broadway in Uptown, a September 21 attack on a 27-year-old woman in the 900 block of West Belmont Avenue in Lakeview, and the September 30 incident at the Loyola station in Rogers Park.
Rucker is charged with three counts of aggravated battery of a transit passenger, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, and one count of aggravated battery of a peace officer.
He is scheduled to appear in Cook County court on Friday afternoon for a detention hearing.
Recently, social media videos circulated featuring two men confronting Rucker, having recognized him as a “Loop Puncher,” and physically attacking him.
Young men confront viral Chicago âLoop Puncherâ who stands at 6â7â and walks around knocking out people in Chicago arrested over 20 times. A mom of 11, Kathleen Miles, was knocked out cold, a Northwestern University employee punched near Union Station, elbowed a 15-year-old girl⊠pic.twitter.com/I0eiRWYEn6
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) October 3, 2025
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans issued a warning last week to court staff, highlighting Rucker’s mugshot and describing him as having a “repeated history of punching strangers,” known colloquially on social media as âThe Loop Puncher.â Evans also mentioned another individual, William Livingston, known for similar assaults; however, Livingston has been incarcerated in Cook County Jail since August for allegedly attacking another woman in the Loop.
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Tim Hecke is the managing partner of CWBChicago. His journalism career began at KMOX, the iconic news radio station in St. Louis. He then worked at radio stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City, eventually building syndicated radio news services that served every one of the country’s 100 largest radio markets. Tim has been CWBChicago’s managing partner since 2019.
His email address is tim@cwbchicago.com
