Expert says third-party theft of Chicago Police officer's Taser during arrest is concerning
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago Police Officer's Taser was stolen during a physical altercation with a man he was trying to arrest on a CTA Red Line train platform on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, CBS 2's Tara Molina followed up on the theft and arrest that left an officer hospitalized. A police expert calls it all concerning – for more than one reason.
We're told the officer who was injured in the incident on Chicago Transit Authority property was doing OK on Tuesday. The man he was in the process of arresting when the incident happened was in custody and facing charges Tuesday.
But unidentified the third party who stole the Taser is not.
A simple police platform check at the Roosevelt Red Line subway stop, beneath the intersection of Roosevelt Road and State Street, led to a fight and the theft of a police weapon.
According to Chicago Police, officers were walking the platform around 7:30 p.m. Monday when a victim of domestic battery waved them down asking for their help. The officers' attempt to detain the person the victim identified led to a fight - forcing an officer to put his Taser on the ground.
At that point, someone ran up, stole the Taser, and ran off.
This happened as we track an uptick violence against police and continued violence on Chicago's public transit, amidst a police staffing shortage.
Security expert Phil Andrew called the chain of events "unusual" – as they involved an officer first placing a Taser on the ground while attempting an arrest, and then someone coming up and stealing the Taser.
"It's a question of, were there enough officers responding to this to provide for officer safety while they were effectuating their lawful intervention? And is there a training element here, where clearly, if you have drawn your weapon or a Taser, that it needs to be secured before you move on to the next thing?" Andrew said. "In all likelihood, the officer was struggling, and didn't have the opportunity to fully holster it."
Andrew characterized the Taser thief as a likely opportunist.
"It could've been, really a crime of opportunity," he said. "Where they saw an officer struggling and instead of seeing an opportunity to support somebody else in their community taking a risk to serve others, they took advantage."
He also characterized the shortage of Chicago Police officers as part of a pervasive problem.
"We are seeing the strain of the inability to recruit, train, and retain law enforcement officers across the county but particularly here in Chicago," Andrew said.
We asked Chicago Police if more officers were needed in this case, what the policy is with a Taser, and what charges the person who stole it could face.
There had been no response as of early Tuesday evening.
We do know that 29-year-old Damion Brown of West Englewood - the man accused of domestic battery whom police were trying detain when all of this went down - was in custody late Tuesday and charged with two felony counts of resisting arrest. He was also cited for unsafe crossing of CTA train cars.
Whoever stole the police officer's Taser, again, hasn't been caught.
We also asked Chicago Police for surveillance of the theft and the suspect. They didn't address that question either.
The Chicago Transit Authority referred questions to the CPD: "As a reminder, the Chicago Police Department provides law enforcement for the CTA, and can provide information on its response to incidents, including this one. Thank you for reaching out."
