As a crowd at a funeral grew chaotic on Saturday afternoon on the city’s West Side, a Chicago police officer was punched, fell to the ground and was kicked in the head while down, prosecutors alleged during a detention hearing on Monday.
Cook County prosecutors charged two men with battering the officer in what they described as a violent attack perpetrated as a skirmish broke out at the funeral in the 4300 block of West Madison Street around 12:30 p.m.
Demarco Hunter, 25, is charged with a felony count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and Michael Fitzgerald, 37, is charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a peace officer as well as resisting arrest and other misdemeanors.
Judge William Fahy ordered Hunter detained while awaiting trial, calling the allegation a “brazen act of violence.”
“This police officer at that point was on the ground in full uniform and … this defendant is then identified as kicking that police officer in the head while he was on the ground causing serious injury,” Fahy said.
Prosecutors did not seek detention for Fitzgerald, though he will be turned over to the custody of the Illinois Department of Correction because of a parole violation. Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered him to electronic monitoring when released from the state’s custody.
During the detention hearing for Hunter, Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Sorrentino said the officers were detailed to the funeral because of traffic disruptions. Officers then tried to stop someone suspected of having a firearm, Sorrentino said.
When officers returned, the crowd grew hostile, he said.
Fitzgerald punched an officer on the head, prosecutors alleged, and another officer was hit by someone else.
Individuals in the crowd tried to interfere with the officers making arrests, Sorrentino said, and at least one officer was pushed to the ground.
Hunter kicked the police officer in the head, Sorrentino said, and the officer started bleeding. The officer was taken to the hospital, where he was treated with staples to the head.
Assistant Public Defender Sam Esterman argued against detention for Hunter, telling the judge that emotions ran high at the funeral and that Hunter had lost his cousin.
“This was clearly a case arising out of chaos,” Esterman said. “It was a hectic scene.”
Fahy, though, in ordering detention, called the case “particularly disturbing.”
