The Chicago Police Board Thursday agreed with a recommendation from the city’s top cop that two officers involved in the shooting of an unarmed man in Pilsen in 2022 should not be fired from the department.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had recommended Sgt. Christopher Liakopoulos and Officer Ruben Reynoso be discharged for violating use of force guidelines, failing to render aid and failing to secure the scene in the July 2022 incident that left Miguel Medina wounded.
But Supt. Larry Snelling disagreed with COPA, arguing that both officers complied with department policies and proposed no discipline for the officers. In cases where the superintendent and COPA disagree on police discipline a police board member is selected to rule on the dispute.
On Thursday board member Steven Block sided mostly with Snelling in his decision, agreeing with the superintendent that Liakopoulos complied with CPD guidelines and should not be disciplined. But while he also agreed that Reynoso didn’t violate use of force rules, Block sided with COPA’s allegations that Reynoso failed to render aid and secure the scene.
“Because the Chief Administrator’s recommendation that Officer Reynoso be discharged from the Chicago Police Department was based on sustaining all four allegations, it appears that the appropriate next steps are for the Chief Administrator to issue a new recommendation for discipline” based on those two allegations, Block wrote in his opinion. The superintendent will then respond to that recommendation.
The shooting involved evolving narratives, which ultimately led to the officers being accused of lying about what happened and charged with felony offenses. Both officers were acquitted in 2023. The judge ruled the officers were within their rights to protect themselves.
The officers, both with the Major Accidents Unit at the time, were on their way to conduct a police training session when they saw Medina and a group of people walking on 18th Street and decided to investigate.
The officers then exchanged gunfire with a juvenile in the group who had started to run away. Both officers falsely claimed they had been fired on first. When interviewed by the state’s attorney’s office the next day, the officers allegedly said they didn’t know who shot first but the juvenile pointed a gun at them before they fired at Medina.
Several days after the shooting, prosecutors said they obtained surveillance video that contradicted those statements. Then-State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced two months later that her office would charge both officers with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and official misconduct.
Block in his opinion states that surveillance video shows the juvenile pointed a weapon at the officers, justifying their actions.
“Indeed, it was [the juvenile] who brandished a firearm as he and Medina approached the officers’ vehicle, and it was only then that Sergeant Liakopoulos and Officer Reynosa rightfully discharged their firearms,” Block said.
As for the allegations of failure to render aid and secure the scene, Block notes that Liakopoulos did not have the opportunity to perform those actions because he chased after the juvenile. But Reynoso stayed at the scene.
“Despite remaining at the original scene, Officer Reynoso did not render aid to Medina and it is not clear based on the record why he did not,” Block wrote. “The record is also not clear as to what actions Officer Reynoso took to secure the scene or whether any such actions would have been practical given the circumstances.”
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