Charges dropped against former CPD officer in altercation with woman walking dog at North Avenue Beach
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County prosecutors have dropped felony charges against a former Chicago police officer who was caught on video restraining and struggling with a Black woman as she was walking her dog on North Avenue Beach two years ago.
Bruce Dyker, who is white, resigned from the Chicago Police Department in May 2022, before the department announced any disciplinary action against him for the confrontation with Nikkita Brown.
Dyker had been charged with one count of aggravated battery and two counts of official misconduct before prosecutors dropped the case on Tuesday.
"After consultation with the victim and her attorney, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office (CCSAO) will not be proceeding with the criminal charges against former CPD Officer Bruce Dyker. There is a civil matter pending that will be proceeding forward," a spokesperson for the Cook County State's Attorney's office said Tuesday afternoon.
Brown filed a federal lawsuit against Dyker and the city in June 2022, accusing Dyker of excessive force, unreasonable seizure, false arrest, and willful and wanton battery.
"Bruce Dyker has a 20-year history of gross misconduct with the Chicago Police Department, and we fully intend to hold him and the City of Chicago accountable in federal court," her attorney, Michael L. Gallagher, said in an email Tuesday afternoon.
In the videos of the August 2021 incident, Nikkita Brown is seen walking her dog at North Avenue Beach shortly after midnight, when the beach had closed to the public. Dyker approached Brown, who started recording their interaction.
The recording began with the officer saying something about her going to jail.
Brown asked the officer to keep his distance, because of COVID-19.
Brown: "Respect my space. It's COVID. Six feet."
Dyker: "I'm about to put handcuffs on you."
Dyker was heard saying he did not need a mask because he was outside.
What happened next was captured on cellphone video by two different people - one of them a city employee.
Dyker and Brown began to struggle, and at one point he took her phone. Her dog was lifted into the air by his collar and leash.
"He knocks the phone out of her hand. He literally grabs her - and in such a way that he knocked her out of her shoes and her, you know - God bless her little dog for trying to protect her," attorney Keenan Saulter, representing Brown, said days after the incident.
Police sources said Dyker was trying to place Brown into custody because she was trespassing at the beach after hours, no dogs were allowed at the beach, and the dog had relieved itself at the beach. Those are all municipal code violations.
The sources said Brown swore at the officer, and then started recording.
"Even if she did use terse language with that officer, prior to anything we see on video, per the Chicago Police Department general orders, there is absolutely no cause - even if someone calls you a name or says a curse word to you - for you to grope or manhandle a woman, by herself," Saulter said of the incident.
Brown was not arrested or ticketed after the incident.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability absolved Dyker of racial profiling, finding he also ordered a Black couple and four white or Hispanic people to leave the park before his encounter with Brown. However, the police watchdog agency found his use of force was not reasonable or necessary under the circumstances, that he failed to use proper de-escalation techniques, that he failed to attach and activate his body camera, and that he failed to wear a mask as required by pandemic-era CPD rules.
"Video footage of this incident has been widely circulated and brought significant discredit to the Department," COPA's final report on the incident stated. "Officer Dyker's entire interaction with (Brown) was an abject failure."
Dyker had been with the Chicago Police Department from September 1998 until he resigned in May 2022. COPA had recommended he be fired.
He had at least 24 misconduct allegations against him before his resignation, three of which were sustained and resulted in discipline. Two of them were for neglect of duty, and one was quite serious - involving an off-duty incident that occurred in Tennessee.
According to the Invisible Institute, it was alleged that Dyker displayed and pointed his weapon at a victim, failed to follow lawful orders by a police official, and verbally abused the victim. He was arrested on three counts of aggravated assault.
Dyker agreed to a 20-day suspension after the allegations against him were sustained by the Independent Police Review Authority - the predecessor organization to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
