Gun-in-Throat Case Against Chicago Police Commander Ends in 'Not Guilty' Verdict

CHICAGO, IL — A police commander, described as a hard-charging “cop‘s cop“ by many who worked with him, a man who “kicked ass and took names,” was acquitted Monday of all charges relating to accusations he shoved a gun down a man’s throat and threatened his groin with a Taser in 2013.

Glenn Evans, 53, charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery, reportedly chased 22-year-old Rickey Williams into an abandoned house in January 2013 and assaulted him. Williams was chased from a street corner on Chicago’s South Side, and he claimed Evans cornered him in the house and shoved his gun so far down his throat the barrel of the weapon reached his Adam’s apple.

The scene described is reminiscent of the street justice seen in many cop movies.

But at trial, Williams changed his story several times. At one point, he said Evans was in plain clothes. At another, Evans was in uniform. He testified that Evans held the gun in his mouth with his left hand, and after seeing a photograph of Evans with his gun holster on the right side of his body, changed his story to say Evans used his right hand. He also testified that his hands were cuffed when the gun was put in his mouth, but in other testimony said his hands were free.

DNA from Williams was found on the barrel of the commander’s service weapon. The defense did not dispute the DNA was on the weapon but suggested his DNA could have landed on the weapon in any number of ways.

Cook County Judge Diane Cannon, who issued her not guilty ruling Monday morning after a weeklong trial, said Williams was unable to identify Evans in a police lineup and his testimony was not believable.

He was “eager to change his testimony at anyone’s request,” the judge said, adding that the DNA evidence was “ of fleeting relevance or significance.”

COPS TALK ABOUT GLENN EVANS: HE ‘PROBABLY SAVED MY LIFE’

Williams testified he was tackled in the house, punched in the face by another officer and handcuffed. Then Evans threatened him, demanding to know where he hid his guns. A gun was never recovered from the scene. Williams was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct, but the charges were dropped three months later.

At times, Williams appeared flustered and confused when the judge asked him questions during the bench trial. He also lost his temper.

On the stand, he said he spit up blood after Evans held the gun in his throat for 6 or 7 seconds, but he never reported being injured to prosecutors or to his jailers, who fed him a meal the day he was arrested.

Williams has filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against the city.

“This was not a case of police brutality,” Evans’ defense attorney Laura Morask told reporters after the verdict, reports DNAinfo Chicago. “This was a case of a guy doing his job and you know we need commanders like that.”

During 28 years on the force, four dozen citizen complaints have been filed against Evans. He was suspended a few times, yet he’s also a highly decorated officer who worked some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods.

Recently fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy called Evans ”his best guy,” according to a WBEZ report last year preceding the trial, which also noted that the feeling among officers toward Evans wasn’t universal. One former commander called Evans a “loose cannon.”

A WBEZ investigation of Evans’ record showed the city paid out $325,000 on seven lawsuits in which Evans was accused of police brutality. In one episode during the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago, Evans was alleged to have beaten a Getty Images freelance photojournalist with a baton.

After the Williams allegations were raised, Evans remained in command of his West Side police district, with the backing of Mayor Rahm Emanuel despite an Independent Police Review Authority recommendation that his police powers be stripped. He was removed from command when Cook County prosecutors brought criminal charges against him in August 2014.