Alex hearts Melissa. The message was innocent enough. But because it was etched into the window of an Orange Line rail car, it got Burbank, Ill., resident Alex Gutierrez arrested yesterday.

Gutierrez, 18, who appeared at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, was charged with criminal damage to government property. Bail was set at $20,000.

Gutierrez was riding an Orange Line train near Midway Airport Monday when police officers patrolling the train observed him scratching his name, the name Melissa, and several other words and designs into a window with a dime, according to the police report.

Prosecutors said the damaged property would cost the CTA an estimated $1,900 to replace.



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