A Chicago police sergeant was charged Thursday with official misconduct and aggravated assault six weeks after video emerged showing him holding a 14-year-old boy immobilized with his knee while he was off duty in Park Ridge. , Illinois, according to Park Ridge Police.
Michael Vitellaro, 49, who has worked for the Chicago Police Department since 2000, received information that his son’s bicycle was stolen from a local library and later seen at a nearby Starbucks, according to a criminal complaint filed in Cook County.
The off-duty officer took his son to Starbucks, where he saw the bike on the sidewalk, leaning against a pillar. He “waited in his car to observe who had stolen,” according to the criminal complaint.
The 14-year-old, identified in the complaint as JN, sat on his own bicycle until he dismounted and went to remove the bicycle from Vitellaro’s son.
“When JN touched the bike, the defendant, who had gotten out of the car shortly before, walked up to JN, grabbed the boy’s forearm and pushed JN to the ground,” the complaint reads.
A screenshot of the video taken by the CNN shows Vitellaro with his knee on a teenager. A portion of this image has been blurred to protect identities.
According to the complaint, Vitellaro forced the boy to the ground and stopped him by placing his knee on JN’s back.
Security camera footage from Starbucks and other businesses in the area reflects that JN was not the person who took the bike, according to the complaint.
“Instead, the bike was already at that location before JN arrived while riding his bike,” the document reads.
THE CNN obtained video footage of the incident from lawyers representing the boy’s family. One of his friends captured the video, which also shows a group of boys trying to get the sergeant off-duty off the 14-year-old.
Vitellaro called 911 and asked for backup help, according to the complaint. He did not remove his knee from the boy’s back until a bystander questioned him, according to video of the incident and the complaint.
The boy was crying and visibly upset as he walked away from Vitellaro, who was following him, according to the complaint and video.
THE CNN contacted the Chicago Police Department and the attorney representing Vitellaro for comment.
Vitellaro turned himself in to Park Ridge Police on Thursday and was taken for a bail hearing, according to a Park Ridge Police statement.
At a Thursday afternoon press conference, JN’s family lawyer Antonio Romanucci said: “[Vitellaro] used his police powers, his police training, to make an arrest, to make an arrest of our client without any cause.”
“There is absolutely no room in our community for that,” the boy’s mother said today during the press conference. “This is a situation where [JN] faced something important. He was the only black boy there and that’s part of how we’re processing things as a family.”
A special condition of Vitellaro’s bail is that he does not contact JN or his family, according to the complaint.
Vitellaro is due to return to court on September 8.
Source: CNN Brasil
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