CHICAGO (AP) - For the first time in the nearly eight years since it was formed, the Chicago agency that investigates police misconduct has recommended that an officer be fired.
The Independent Police Review Authority found that the officer was “inattentive to duty” when he fired 16 shots at the wrong car after a drive-by shooting in 2011, while he was working security at a restaurant in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood. The agency also made the recommendation because it alleges that the officer made false statements to investigators by claiming that he shot at the correct car, when surveillance footage showed otherwise.
The officer also said that bystanders had given him the description of the car that fled the drive-by shooting, but the video footage doesn’t show anyone approach the officer as he ran to his vehicle to call in by radio.
The driver of the vehicle that the officer shot at was shot in the back and had to undergo surgery to remove the bullet, which narrowly missed his heart, according to the Independent Police Review Authority.
In April, the agency recommended that the officer be fired, but records released in May didn’t identify him by name. Internal records obtained Monday through the Freedom of Information Act identify the officer as Francisco Perez.
Daniel Herbert, whose law firm represented Perez during his interviews with the agency, declined to comment Monday.
Perez, a 15-year veteran with the Chicago Police Department, was stripped of his police powers in April and placed on paid desk duty, said police spokeswoman Jennifer Rottner, who decline to comment further.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy will decide if he agrees with the agency’s recommendation, and if he does, the Chicago Police Board will decide whether Perez will be fired. Perez also could face less severe disciplinary action, but if he isn’t satisfied with the outcome, he’s able to bring the issue to Cook County Circuit Court.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.