Police Investigate After Video Shows Officer Tossing Man To Ground On 79th Street
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Disturbing video surfaced Thursday of a confrontation with police in the Chatham neighborhood.
Police were investigating what was described as an "emergency takedown" of a man by an officer on East 79th Street.
Just before 4 p.m. in the 700 block of East 79th Street – on the cusp of the Chatham and Greater Grand Crossing communities – officers in an unmarked vehicle noticed the 29-year-old man drinking an alcoholic beverage in plain view at a bus stop, police said.
The man got angry and licked the officer's face while verbally threatening him, and then spit in the officer's eye and mouth, police said.
The officer then performed an "emergency takedown," taking the man to the ground, police said.
The video shows the officer grabbing a man and tossing them to the ground, and it appears the man hits his head on the curb.
The man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized Thursday night, police said. The officer also went to an area hospital.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told CBS 2 by email that the incident was under investigation and the actions seen were "concerning."
"The specifics of what transpired prior to officers executing an emergency takedown will be scrutinized closely by us and COPA," Guglielmi said via email. "If wrongdoing is discovered, officers will be held
accountable."