Former Police Officer Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison For Attack on 89-Year-Old Man
A former Chicago Police Officer has been sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting an elderly man during an altercation at a gas station which led to the victim falling and breaking his hip, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
David Barrett, 59, was previously convicted by a jury of Aggravated Battery of a Senior Citizen for attacking the 89-year-old victim after the victim asked Barrett to stop using profanity during a December 2013 incident at an Oak Lawn gas station.
According to prosecutors, during the early afternoon hours of Dec. 12, 2013 the victim was waiting in a long line at the Shell gas station at 106th and Cicero when Barrett, who was off duty at the time, burst into the gas station and began cursing at two cashiers working behind the counter. The victim calmly asked Barrett to stop yelling, and Barrett responded by pushing the man with closed fists, causing the elderly victim to fall to the ground.
Barrett then continued to scream at bystanders for several minutes and eventually walked out. A witness followed Barrett to his car, wrote down his license plate number, and reported the incident to the Oak Lawn Police Department.
The victim had to undergo surgery for a fractured hip, and suffered a torn rotator cuff on his right shoulder. As a result of his injuries, the victim was required to spend an extended period of time in a residential rehabilitation center.
Officers located Barrett with the driver’s license number and he was arrested and charged with the assault.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Colleen Hyland sentenced Barrett to the 3-year prison term during a hearing at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview.
State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Dan Weiss and Naheda Zayyad as well as the Oak Lawn Police Department for their work on this case.
