I am real lucky that I had my "wallet pocket" buttoned, because I guess his first "bobbing" was reaching back there, and then going for my front pocket. He was obviously well practiced, as I never suspected a thing while it was happening. He got six bucks, my Chicago (transit) Card, my daughter's discount transit card, some lottery tickets, and a bunch of assorted business cards and Walgreens (etc.) receipts (that I keep for jotting ephemeral notes on), and a couple of McDonalds napkins (I'm sure he was pissed that the "big wad" he grabbed was almost zero cash). Again, I was real lucky that he didn't get my wallet!
Fortunately, the "most valuable" thing he got was my Chicago Card (I'd just added $20 to it on Wednesday night), and I was able to get on the phone (once we got out of the subway tunnel), call the CTA's customer service line, and had the original card canceled and a new one (with the full balance I had) being sent out to me before we got to our destination (well, a lot of that was while we were waiting to transfer lines, but still). It took 10-15 minutes to get a live body, but once I had somebody on the line they were very responsive and helpful ... which is nice to find out about something like that!
I ended up getting my daughters to their class and then went back over to the CTA station to file a police report ... again, especially with getting a replacement card, I was only out like $10 and some replaceable contact info (the business cards for the temp agency, etc.), so it was hardly a "high priority" crime, and I was able to take care of all that on the phone. I'm hoping the guy ended up trying to use the card later that evening (when it would have shown up as "stolen") at a station which had cops handy.
All I know is the next time I see somebody acting like they're going to fall down in front of me, I'm stepping out of the way and laughing at them instead of trying to catch them and help them up! Unless, of course, it's this same motherfucker, in which case he's going to wish his foot was caught next to the train!