Drunken Off-Duty Chicago Cop Runs Over Woman, Only Charged With Misdemeanor
On Saturday, an off-duty member of the Chicago Police Department, who was also allegedly drunk, ran over a 21-year-old woman who was waiting to cross the road. The woman is now in critical condition, clinging to life.
And while you might think the police officer, who has not yet been identified, would be in very serious legal jeopardy as a result of his actions, so far he has only been charged with two misdemeanor drunk driving offenses related to the accident.
Yet according to Illinois law, as stated in an official publication titled 2015 Illinois DUI Fact Book, aggravated DUI is clearly defined as a drunk driving offense which results in great bodily injury. The charge for such an offense is listed as a class 4 felony. The penalty for such a charge carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison and fines of up to $25,000. So the misdemeanor counts are little more than a slap on the wrist….READ MORE at LiberalAmerica.org
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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Andrew Bradford
Andrew Bradford is an author, academic, and political activist who lives in Atlanta. He is a Senior Writer for Liberal America and also has his own blog at deepleftfield.info
12 responses to Drunken Off-Duty Chicago Cop Runs Over Woman, Only Charged With Misdemeanor
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tracey marie July 20th, 2015 at 16:32
No wonder the cops are not trusted, in Wisconsin they agreed to back walker in a deal to keep their pensions intact…fire fighters and teachers unions were decimated.
katkelly57 July 20th, 2015 at 16:35
May you have haunted sleep for the rest of your life.
Warman1138 July 20th, 2015 at 20:15
Welcome to Chicago…..NOT!
David Ish July 20th, 2015 at 22:02
I live in Pittsburgh Pa. Pittsburgh Police cop ran a red light and smashed my mother’s car Police cop got away with it.
David Ish July 20th, 2015 at 22:02
I was driving mom’s car.
Tommie July 20th, 2015 at 22:55
This is disgusting, this cop should be in jail, loss of job, loss of pension and should NOT be on paid administrative leave! GTFOH, SMDH!!!
illinoisboy1977 July 21st, 2015 at 13:39
That is where you reach out to Lisa Madigan’s office and ask her to review the charges, for signs of favoritism or improper application of the law. If the Attorney General thinks the charge is inappropriate to the situation, she can call the DA and pressure him to apply the correct charge.
Taryn J. White June 16th, 2017 at 22:43
An average citizen having to FightDUICharges is facing some serious consequences, even when they do not cause an accident or injure someone. The fact he is a cop, he should be held more accountable for his actions under the law. Especially since his DUI badly hurt this woman as well.
Willys41 June 23rd, 2017 at 14:46
Police are not average citizens. They might get killed protecting you. That’s why juries consistently show them more leniency. So before you set yourself up as judge, jury, and executioner, be sure of your accusations.
Gerry July 19th, 2017 at 13:41
What part of he was drunk and off-duty justifies a much less severe penalty?
I’d say that considering the fact that the police, more than the public, know the law, the fact that they have an awesome responsibility because of their jobs, the fact that the actions of one influence the public’s perception of the rest, your “average citizen” observation doesn’t hold.
One night my friend and I were driving home from college. Some guy pulls alongside us as we’re driving along and starts pacing us. We sped up to move ahead of him. He sped up until he was alongside us and again matched our speed. We sped up again. He sped up again. This happened two or three times. We finally came to a stop sign. When he stopped, we punched out and roared off to get away from the ass. A couple of miles down the road he finally caught up to us. No problem. Until he pulled a pistol. I yelled to my friend, “Rick! He’s got a gun!” So we whipped around and headed back the other way until we came to a store that was still open. We stopped in the parking lot, I jumped out and ran inside yelling “Call the cops! There’s someone chasing us with a gun!” Then I headed back outside to try to help my friend. Only to find out that the SOB who’d been harassing us was a cop. When the police showed up, they arrested my friend, who’d been driving. When I pointed at the other driver and said, “This man pulled a gun on us”, the bastard said, “No I didn’t. I was showing you my badge.”
It’s been more than forty years. But despite the fact that I’ve met dozens of decent, honest, hard-working police officers through the years, to this day, because of that one pig, I’ll always be just the tiniest bit suspicious when the cops claim they needed to use deadly force/the guy was breaking the law/etc.
When a cop breaks the law and gets away with it, it makes it harder for the rest to do their jobs.
Willys41 July 24th, 2017 at 19:02
Yes, one bad cop or one cop who makes a bad decision makes things worse for all the other officers on planet Earth. And that does change the fact that police are not average citizens, that they might get killed protecting you, and that’s why juries consistently show them more leniency.
What are Chicago cops saying about it? Are they standing up for the guy or are they silent?
And, frankly, from the story YOU tell, it sounds like your friend deserved to get arrested.
Gerry July 25th, 2017 at 03:15
When someone harasses you, I don’t give a damn what their reasons are. If that cop had bothered to actually identify himself instead of pretending to be Joe Imashmuck, we’d have pulled over or slowed down. But the fact that he provoked us without identifying himelf, then brandished a pistol without identifying himself, then lied about pulling his sidearm, shows he was trying to set us up. It worked, too. My friend deserved nothing. And neither do the rest of the police.