Schaumburg Police officer Frank Russo, 47, collapsed while chasing a suspect early this morning and was later pronounced dead. The 19-year veteran was working on his night off at a club with another officer when two suspects fled from an incident near the parking lot. The officers apprehended the suspects but another broke free and Russo collapsed during the ensuing chase. He was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove where he was pronounced dead at 3 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for today.



"An autopsy is scheduled for today."
Really? Either dude has a monster goiter, or that giant third chin tells the tale of what happened.
In a completely unrelated matter, remember when all the cops were pissed about Jody Weis requiring ongoing fitness tests?
I've always found it just amazingly fucked up that cops don't have to meet a stringent level of fitness to get and to keep the job.
It is pretty sad that cops have to work all nighter second jobs just to make ends meet.
sad.sad.sad.
I agree with Ingrid (no sarcasm). And I usually defend the cops.
Of course, we should wait until the results are in on the cause of death, but this officer is clearly overweight.
If you can't run after crooks, you shouldn't be working as a street cop. And if you can't climb up stairs, you shouldn't be a firefighter.
Remember that a very overweight firefighter who couldn't handle the stairs at 69 W. Washington was part of the reason for the deaths in that stairwell.
I genuinely hope that when you all die, and every one of you will, anonymous assholes will flock to a message board and chatter about the whys and wherefores of your demise, some even going so far as to make broadside policy suggestions over your corpses.
You have the table manners of vultures.
Albany,
That's a tad sanctimonious, don't you think?
When I was in high school and out with my boyfriend, we witnessed an old lady getting her purse snatched at a mall. Police were called, the chase went on, my thin, in shape boyfriend outran the 3 overweight out of shape cops and got the old lady's purse back. If it weren't for him this punk would have gotten away with the poor thing's purse.
Cops should be in shape, what's so vulturish about this? If it were your life or your wallet on the line, who ya gonna call?
Doug from the King of Queens or Starsky and Hutch?
I agree with Ingrid and Ward.
But you have to be impressed with the atheticism of Ingrid's high school boyfriend.
This kid was able to put his pants back on, escape from the back seat, and then chase down the perp. Impressive!
Yes, Chris....those were the days....... :)
Not sanctimony, I just think that if anyone on here was actually addressing the friends of family of this guy they wouldn't be cracking wise about his "triple chin" or bemoaning the declining fitness standards for cops.
Yes, cops and firemen should be in shape. It's a bit like standing at a car accident, pointing at the three-car pile-up and saying "People should drive better."
Albany,
What better place to talk about an overweight cop than on an anonymous blog? It goes without saying that you're not going to get all over the family and friends about this. And the 3 car pile up scenario is not relevant...there are a myriad of things that can cause an accident besides bad driving.
If nobody talked about it, then nothing would ever be done about it. I really don't think the 'triple chin' is off limits. George Carlin would probably agree.
If you're a cop...a public servant and you let yourself get that out of shape, then you pretty much deserve whatever snarking and ridicule people do behind your back, or in front of it for that matter. The safety of the community depends on these guys. If you're not up for the job, then don't do it, or sit behind a desk or direct traffic.
To Albany, I do see your point, but police divers are tested carefully for fitness so that they do not die while doing their job. In fact, a female CPD diver died a few years ago on a dive.
Mounted police on the CPD have to pass careful evaluations to be sure that they do not lose control and fall from their mounts. Head injuries and cervical spine injuries to a rider can happen even when the horse is moving slowly.
Now, what about the average CPD beat cop? He can die, also. Making sure that he is fit enough is the kindest thing to do for the officer and for his/her family.
I don't think it's being vulture-like to raise that issue when this story appears.