Chicago police officer dragged by fleeing car wants case finally resolved
By
Tara Molina
/ CBS Chicago
Chicago police officer dragged by fleeing car wants case finally resolved
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago police officer was left permanently disabled after being dragged and thrown from a car.
He told CBS 2's Tara Molina exclusively that he just wants to move on with his life, but the case against the man who dragged him is dragging through court.
It's been more than two years and the former Chicago police officer is still adjusting to living a new normal.
He has permanent traumatic brain injuries and doctors orders meant he'll never work as an officer again. But he didn't expect the criminal justice system to take this long. He wants to move on and that's why he's speaking out.
It was Nov. 23, 2020 when two Chicago police officers stopped a car they saw run a red light. The traffic stop changed one of their lives forever.
"I remember thinking 'I'm going to die,'" said the officer.
He's not showing his face or using his name.
"I remember thinking 'I don't want to die.'"
But you can see exactly why this former CPD officer still feels thankful to be alive.
"I remember thinking 'He doesn't care about my life,'" the former officer said. "I remember thinking 'He's trying to kill me.'"
The former CPD officer said the driver had a suspended license and was asked to step out of the car. The officer went to open the door. That's when he said the driver took off, leaving him hanging on the side door, thrown into a wall when the car crashed into a steel pole.
"It became completely black. It was within a matter of seconds," he said, adding, "When you give no regard at all to any kind of law, worse things happen."
He spent more than a week in the hospital. He had brain hemorrhages, a broken jaw, tears in his shoulder and a fractured back.
"I have four titanium plates in my head," he said.
The man behind the wheel was Aaron Okelola. He was indicted by a grand jury on attempted murder of a police officer and more. But Okelola had a felony record before the incident with the officers. Just a few weeks before he was arrested on felony charges and released a day later.
Okelola's attorney filed a motion to allow an expert to testify to the defendant's actions were a result of fear, based on police violence in the Black community, claiming self defense and "a reasonable fear of imminent unlawful violence."
"He acted out of such fear," the attorney said. The attorney first filed the motion over the summer. It requires an expert report, and has held up the case for months.
"This has been dragged on long enough," the former CPD officer said.
The former officer hopes for closure.
"It feels as though I was dragged last week," he said. "I've been trying to continue on with my life. I want to close this chapter. I want to close this chapter and try to live my normal."
The status hearing in the case on Wednesday was pushed to next Thursday. That's the final submission date for an expert's report on the defense related to fear of police violence and when the judge will rule on whether or not the defense can be used in trial.
Okelola's attorney told CBS 2 he can't comment on the pending case.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office also declined to comment for this story, citing pending litigation.
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