Chicago Police Commander Charged

CHICAGO, IL – A Chicago Police Commander has been arrested and is facing felony criminal charges in connection with an incident in which the officer is alleged to have forced his service weapon into the mouth of a man while also allegedly holding a Taser to the man’s groin during the apprehension and arrest of the individual on Chicago’s South Side in 2013, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Commander Glenn Evans, 52, has been charged with Aggravated Battery and Official Misconduct in connection with the arrest of the then 22-year-old Chicago man that occurred on Jan. 30, 2013 in the late afternoon hours in an abandoned home in the 7100 block of South Eberhart.

The charges were filed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office following an investigation by the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).

Evans turned himself into authorities and he appeared in bond court today at the George Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago. Evans, whose most recent assignment was as the Commander of the Harrison District on the city’s West Side, has been employed as a Chicago Police Officer since July of 1986.

“It is an extremely sad and difficult situation for all of us in law enforcement when an incident such as this occurs and criminal charges are warranted,” said State’s Attorney Alvarez.  “We certainly recognize that our police officers have difficult jobs and that they work under challenging and often life threatening circumstances, but every law enforcement officer holds his or her powers through the public trust and this type of conduct violates that trust.”

According to prosecutors, Evans was on duty and patrolling in the area of 500 East 71^st Street when the incident occurred.  Evans claimed that he observed the 22-year-old man with a gun in his hand and he curbed his unmarked department squad car, approached the suspect and gave chase when the suspect fled on foot.  At the time, Evans was serving as the Commander of the Grand Crossing District on the city’s South Side.

Evans used his radio to request assistance for a “man with a gun” and pursued the suspect on foot, arriving at the location with several other officers who entered the house with guns drawn. According to prosecutors, Evans saw the suspect hiding in a closet, tackled him to the ground and then stuck his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol into the man’s mouth and down his throat.  Evans is then alleged to have pulled out a Taser which he held to the victim’s groin, threatening to kill the suspect if he did not identify where the weapon or weapons were located.

Evans and other responding officers took the suspect into custody and conducted a search of the house and surrounding area but no weapon was recovered.  The victim was then charged by police with the misdemeanor offense of reckless conduct based upon his alleged possession of a gun.  The police Incident Report and Arrest Report describing the arrest did not state that the victim resisted arrest, attempted to disarm an officer or that any force was used to take the man into custody.  Those charges were later dismissed on April 24, 2013 when officers failed to appear in court to testify in the case.

On Jan. 31, 2013, the day after the arrest was made, the victim contacted the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and filed a complaint, alleging that Evans had placed a gun down his throat, held a Taser to his groin and threatened to kill him unless he told the defendant where a gun was located.  Based upon that complaint, Evans was ordered to surrender his weapon for forensic testing, which was conducted by Chicago Police Internal Affairs personnel on Feb. 1, 2013.

According to prosecutors, on April 17, 2014, a forensic scientist from the Illinois State Police conducted DNA testing comparing the victim’s DNA to the substance obtained from the swabs taken from Evans’ weapon.  The scientist reported that both a major and minor human DNA profile was found on the swabs taken from the defendant’s weapon and that the major profile “matched” the victim’s DNA profile.

The State’s Attorney’s Office was contacted by IPRA authorities after the results of the testing were completed and an investigation was conducted.

The public is reminded that criminal documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.