Chicago Cop Gone Wild

Cop in bar brawl Tasered
'HE WOULDN'T STOP FIGHTING'

Accused of attacking 2 Forest Park cops
March 4, 2008
BY ERIC HERMAN

Criminal Courts Reporter eherman@suntimes.com
It took a Taser to subdue a Chicago Police officer who attacked two Forest Park cops Saturday night, authorities said.

Richard Schmidt, on the force two years and assigned to the Englewood District, faces felony aggravated battery charges for allegedly striking two Forest Park officers as well as a paramedic. Judge Gregory Ginex set Schmidt's bond at $10,000 on Monday.

"He wouldn't stop fighting," said Deputy Chief Thomas Aftanas of the Forest Park Police.
At about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Forest Park police responded to a call of a fight at Slainte, an Irish bar in the 7500 block of West Madison, Aftanas said.

"Schmidt was on the second floor of the tavern intentionally jumping in the air and landing on tables with his back and breaking them," the Village of Forest Park said in a statement.
Forest Park Police arrested Schmidt for criminal damage to property, Aftanas said. At the station, Schmidt resisted instructions, elbowed an officer in the face, and "attacked'' a sergeant, according to the statement.

Schmidt also spat blood at a paramedic and hit a paramedic in the neck, said Cook County state's attorney spokesman John Gorman. Aftanas disagreed that a paramedic was punched.
No one was seriously hurt in the incident, a source said, though Schmidt was taken to Oak Park Hospital. Schmidt's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit for driving, Gorman said.

Schmidt, 25, has been relieved of his police powers, and an investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority is pending, said Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. "The Chicago Police Department has zero tolerance for any officer who violates the integrity of this department," Supt. Jody Weis said in a statement.

The incident echoes other recent notorious cases in which off-duty officers got into bar brawls. Anthony Abbate faces felony charges over a videotaped beating of a female bartender last year, and three officers face charges over a melee at the Jefferson Tap & Grille.