2 Investigators: Cop In Portillo's Attack Pistol-Whipped Driver In Different Incident
(CBS) -- A couple accuses an off-duty Chicago police officer of attacking in a case of road rage.
It is the same cop caught on camera beating a man at a Portillo's restaurant.
The 2 Investigators first exposed the officer's record last week. Now, Dave Savini has more in this Original Report.
Carl and Simone Dean say they were driving home from church when attacked by off-duty Chicago Police Officer Khaled Shaar. He is the same officer caught on camera beating a different man, also while off-duty.
"At a red light, all of a sudden, bam, bam, bam," Carl Dean says about the attack. "I felt he was really going to try and kill me."
Dean says he was pistol-whipped during an unprovoked act of road rage on June 24, 2007. He says the officer first jumped on his car and hit him through the open sunroof.
"No hesitation. No questions asked. No nothing. Just dove straight in, straight in, pistol in hand," Dean says. "My nose was fractured, bloodied up and all that. Big old lip. My tooth was loose at the top. I had to have three or four stitches on the inside and outside."
Dean says he was worried the gun might go off. He says he did not know Shaar was an officer.
"I just thought he was a crazy dude because who else would jump through somebody else's sunroof like that?"
Officer Shaar is the same person caught on camera beating another man, Canadian businessman Terry Clarke, while working security at Portillo's Restaurant at Ontario and Clark in Chicago.
Clarke says his wounds were caused by handcuffs Shaar used like brass knuckles. Clark says the attack happened in 2015, while his family tried to finish their meal at closing time.
Dean saw the CBS 2 story about Clarke and says he recognized the officer.
"Immediately, yeah, I'll never forget him," he says. "That is crazy, seeing him do that again."
The CBS 2 investigation found that since Shaar joined the force in 1999, he has received 23 complaints -- five for excessive force and three for domestic violence. He has received one 30-day suspension, but was cleared in Dean's case.
"Twenty-three times, that's like a check on your conduct," Dean says.
Dean says he thought Shaar would get charged for attacking him, but Dean was charged instead.
"They covered it up," says Dean, whose criminal case was dismissed.
Dean filed a federal lawsuit he filed against Shaar and the city, which was settled.
Clarke also was arrested, ended up with a disorderly conduct conviction, and is suing Shaar and Portillo's.
Shaar could not be reached for comment. He has been stripped of his police powers while the Independent Police Review Authority and the Cook County State's Attorney's office investigate Shaar's actions in Clarke's case.
