Crime & Safety
2 Officers Injured, 2 Arrested After Child Left In Car: Police
Tinley Park police Tased a man they say was resisting arrest outside a Burlington Coat Factory Wednesday after finding a 1-year-old alone.
TINLEY PARK, IL — Two Tinley Park police officers were injured Wednesday while attempting to arrest a man they said was responsible for leaving a 1-year-old child alone in a car outside Burlington Coat Factory.
According to officials, police were called to the 16001 South Harlem Avenue location at around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday after a someone reported a young child was left alone in a locked vehicle in the store parking lot.
Police Chief Tom Walsh told Patch the two officers went from store to store attempting to locate the car's owner before finding a man who claimed to be the child's father inside of the Burlington Coat Factory.
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When police and the man, later identified as 26-year-old Trayvond Cusic of Chicago, stepped outside the store to talk, Walsh said the man refused to give any identification which prompted police to put him under arrest.
While resisting, authorities said, Cusic elbowed one officer in the jaw and injured the other officer's shoulder in the process. At that point, one of the officers Tased Cusic, Walsh said, which was initially mistaken for the sound of gunshots.
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No guns were shot during the incident, a police spokeswoman told Patch.
"When you deploy a Taser it makes a popping sound," said Walsh. "People can misconstrue it with a gunshot. It gets your attention."
After Cusic was placed under arrest, police also arrested the child's mother, 26-year-old Darrale Stewart of Chicago. Cusic is facing charges of aggravated battery to a peace officer, aggravated resisting arrest and endangering a child. Stewart is also charged with endangering a child.
Walsh said officers on the scene saw multiple bags in the pair's car which indicated they had been away from the vehicle for a while.
The officer with the jaw injury was taken to a local hospital where he was held under observation and then released. Both Cusic and the officer with the shoulder injury were treated by paramedics on the scene.
Walsh said police began to clear the area as of 3:15 p.m. Wednesday after a family member came and took custody of the 1-year-old.
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