About Advertise Archive Contact Search Subscribe
Serving the Loop and Near North neighborhoods of downtown Chicago
Facebook X Vimeo RSS

(Above) Two Chicago police officers block the southwest entrance to the CTA station at Grand & State. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

CPD has asked the Cook County State’s Attorney to drop criminal narcotics and resisting arrest charges filed against Ariel Roman, shot twice by police on Friday at the Red Line station at Grand & State. A GoFundMe page, meanwhile, is trying to raise $40,000 to cover Roman’s medical expenses.

2-Mar-20 – Chicago police say it would be “insensitive” to charge the man shot on Friday by a police officer at the Grand CTA station. A police spokesperson said on Sunday that after reviewing the arrest, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Charlie Beck has asked the Cook County State’s Attorney to drop criminal narcotics and resisting arrest charges that had been filed against Ariel Roman.

Ariel Roman

Shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, two police officers assigned to CPD’s Public Transportation Unit tried to apprehend Roman (left) at the Red Line station after they say he “was moving between two train cars,” which is a violation of city law.

The officers followed Roman off the train and at the bottom of an escalator leading up from the train platform, struggled to apprehend him. Both officers, according to CPD, shot Roman with their Tasers and then one of the officers, a woman, shot Roman with her gun from a few feet away. Though wounded in the abdomen, Roman fled up the escalator but was shot a second time – that time, according to his attorney, in the buttocks.

The incident was captured on video by freelance writer Michael McDunnah. Early in the video, a train can be heard arriving at the station, its passengers then walking past the officers – as they struggle with Roman – to get to the escalator. The video shows police using pepper spray on Roman and trying to handcuff him.

Roman was taken by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and after surgery was listed in critical but stable condition.

(Right) Ariel Roman reacts after being pepper sprayed and Tasered by police officers at the Grand CTA station on February 28. A video of the incident shows Roman stumbling forward, then being shot by the officer at left.

Video by Michael McDunnah

“Given the totality of circumstances and the department’s significant level of concern around this incident, it would be insensitive to advocate for these charges,” said Anthony Guglielmi, CPD’s Chief Communications Officer. “While we will not rush to judgment, the level of concern over the tactics used in this incident is significant. We are cooperating fully with the independent use of force investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the underlying criminal review being conducted at our request by the Cook County State’s Attorney and the FBI.”

According to Guglielmi, charges against the police officer who shot Roman are possible.

“The interim superintendent is extremely concerned and has significant questions about the incident. Both officers will be restricted from field duties and will be placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation,” said Guglielmi.

Photo by Steven Dahlman

(Left) Police respond to a shooting at the CTA station at State Street & Grand Avenue on Friday afternoon.

Shooting happened on same day city announced new safety plan

Earlier in the day on Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a public transit safety plan that will add 50 officers to CPD’s Public Transportation Unit and new technology to “provide a more secure, comfortable traveling experience.”

“With several hundred officers currently patrolling the CTA, the additional officers in the unit will expand CPD’s footprint on Chicago’s public transit system, allowing more officers to monitor activity on the platform stations, trains, and buses,” according to the mayor’s office.

Chicago Police Department said on Sunday it is creating a dedicated group of detectives that will focus solely on crime on the CTA system. According to CPD, crime on the system is down slightly but arrests are up 30 percent from a year ago. The new “smart policing technology,” expected to launch this spring, will have access to more than 32,000 video cameras installed on CTA property.

GoFundMe page created to help with expenses of man shot by police

A GoFundMe page created on Sunday by Ariel Roman’s sister is trying to raise money to cover his medical and living expenses.

Wendy Roman says her brother does not have health insurance, will not be able to return to work for a long time, and “has a long road ahead of him.”

“My brother is not perfect, but then again, none of us are,” says Wendy on the GoFundMe page. “He has had some ups and downs in his life, but he has the kindest selfless heart you’ll ever find in this world. Family is everything to him. He loves to make people laugh. He dislikes injustice, and he is the kind of person who will step in and break up a fight or defend someone else, even if they are a stranger.”

The goal of the GoFundMe page is $40,000.