Police Commander Accused of Shoving Gun In Suspect's Mouth Goes To Trial

By Mae Rice in News on Dec 7, 2015 8:57PM

Commander Glenn Evans, a 30-year veteran of Chicago’s police force charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct, will go to trial tomorrow.

He is specifically accused of “shoving a gun into Rickey Williams’ mouth, holding a Taser to the man's groin and threatening to kill him if he did not tell Evans where his gun was,” NBC reports.

Evans claims that Williams had a gun when he first spotted him on January 2013 in the 500 block of E. 71st Street, but according to prosecutors, no such gun was never found. A swab revealed traces of Williams’ DNA on Evans’ gun muzzle, although it’s unclear if the DNA came from his mouth.

The Tribune laid out the conflicting stories of the men’s initial meeting:

Evans said he saw Rickey Williams, then 22, holding a blue steel handgun while he stood near a bus stop in the 500 block of East 71st Street.

Williams has denied being armed and instead contended that Evans had pulled up in a squad car and stared at him for several minutes. Unnerved, he took off running, he said.

Evans radioed for assistance for a "man with a gun" and gave chase on foot as Williams ducked into an abandoned house.

Williams was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct after, but charges were dropped when no officers showed up to testify at his hearing.

When Evans was charged, he was removed from his commanders’ post. The police review authority recommended his removal earlier, but then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy had “publicly praised Evans for his aggressive style and promoted him,” the Tribune reported; McCarthy kept Evans on as long as possible.

This case was postponed in October, when Judge Diane Cannon released nearly 1,000 pages in relevant documents that both sides needed to review, according to the Tribune. Now, as the Department of Justice begins investigating the Chicago Police Department, the trial will move forward.