Man Arrested On Murder Charges Shortly After Announcing Lawsuit Against City

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 9, 2016 8:24PM

We told you yesterday about Dominiq Greer, the 25-year-old man who is suing the city of Chicago for alleged excessive force over a 2014 incident in which he was shot seven times by police. In a dramatic, “only in Chicago” twist, that same man was then arrested on murder charges mere moments after his news conference announced the $15 million lawsuit, according to USA Today. He was detained outside the office of his attorney, Eugene Hollander, while waiting for his Uber.

The murder charge is for the May 27 shooting death of Hyde Park man Kevin Larry, 22, near 56th Street and Wabash Avenue, in Washington Park. (A warrant for Greer's arrest was issued on May 29.) "Upon learning of the press conference, CPD dispatched a team of officers to apprehend him in connection with the murder," spokesman Anthony Guglielmi was quoted in USA Today. “He was taken into custody without incident.”

Even if only coincidental, the timing is beyond bizarre. Greer and Hollander had just spent nearly an hour with media detailing the lawsuit. During the 2014 encounter with police, Greer was initially armed, they acknowledged. While being pursued, he then fell while trying to throw out his gun, which police say fired when hitting the ground. Officer Lawrence Cosban then shot three Greer times, Holland said, then another four more times at close range, at which point Greer was unarmed. The responding officers were both subsequently cleared of wrongdoing by the Independent Police Review, the much-maligned oversight body that Mayor Rahm Emanuel seeks to disband. Greer was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and was out on bail awaiting trial.

The encounter was caught on video but only released Wednesday by Hollander’s office. It was not included in last Friday’s massive data dump of police-involved shootings—a bid for transparency that has drawn criticism from the Fraternal Order of Police for not presenting enough context.

Police department spokespeople did not further comment about the timing of the arrest since charges are still pending. Hollander was unavailable for immediate comment.