Video: A Police Officer Punched This Man 4 Times During Arrest

By Mae Rice in News on Jun 21, 2016 3:19PM

Robert Foreman, CPD handout

A man has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago alleging a Chicago Police Officer used excessive force while arresting him for two misdemeanors, the Sun-Times reports. Robert Foreman, 22, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, after a Facebook video of a CPD officer repeatedly punching him during his arrest surfaced online on Monday. The video has prompted an investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).

Here's the video:

The arrest shown occurred Sunday, after Chicago police attempted to ticket Robert Foreman, 22, for public drinking. Foreman ran away, and a police officer chased him down, then punched him four times while arresting him at about 2:25 p.m. in the 8800 block of South Wabash Avenue.

"I'm not fighting!" Foreman yells in the video. Later, he says, "Stop, I can't breathe!"

Maurice Fulson recorded the arrest, and told WGN: “He was down [while the officer punched him], you can see it on the film. He was not fighting back, he wasn’t trying to flip."

Foreman was ultimately arrested and charged with two misdemeanors: public drinking and resisting arrest. He was released from jail Monday, WGN reports.

The officer shown in the video reported his use of force to the police department, and has not been stripped of his police powers—unlike the officer involved in a similar incident last week. When Facebook video surfaced of that officer kicking a suspect in the head, he was immediately put on desk duty.

Chicago police issued the following statement on this week's case:

Based on this video, CPD has opened an internal affairs investigation into this incident and will be forwarding the video and all relevant reports to the Independent Review Board for investigation. We are committed to the highest levels of integrity and professional standards and look forward to IPRA's review of this incident.