Surveillance footage released by the Chicago Police Department shows protesters marching toward the Christopher Columbus statue on July 17, 2020 evening. (Chicago Police Department)

The Chicago police officer who was seen on video striking activist Miracle Boyd during a 2020 protest near the Christopher Columbus statue has resigned from the department, according the agency tasked with probing police misconduct.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in a statement Wednesday said it has learned Officer Nicholas Jovanovich, who was facing a possible termination, has instead resigned from the Chicago Police Department.

Due to that, COPA also released its investigatory findings from the July 2020 incident and recommended that Jovanovich, Sergeant Kevin Gleeson and Lieutenant Godfrey Cronin all be fired from the department.

The incident, which was among numerous violent spats between officers and protesters at the statue, was captured on video and allegedly showed Jovanovich approach Boyd as she filmed an arrest and “forcefully” strike her cell phone from her hand. The phone then hit Boyd in the mouth and knocked out one of her front teeth.

“Whether PO Jovanovich acted out of frustration or suffered from clouded judgment brought on by exhaustion and the taxing hostility he faced is unknown, as PO Jovanovich maintained his force was proper towards Ms. (Boyd) a position COPA found to be at odds with the reality of the situation,” COPA wrote in the 45-page report. “Both the brutality of his physical action and his attempt to falsely justify his actions in an official Department Report make him unfit to be a police officer.”

WBEZ on Wednesday first reported that Jovanovich had resigned.

Beyond striking Boyd, COPA found that Jovanovich also “grossly mischaracterized the interaction” while documenting it in a subsequent Tactical Response Report.

In that report, he allegedly stated Boyd was a “highly agitated person swinging and flailing their arms with an unknown object in their right hand.” He went on to say Boyd “was yelling profanities and walking quickly toward the back of the arresting officers. ​​The subject continued to walk toward the officers extending the unknown object with their right hand. The officers were unaware of the subject approaching from behind and (responding officer) believing the subject was going to batter the arresting officers or attempt to defeat the arrest.”

Jovanovich’s report never indicates that “unknown object” was a phone. COPA also discovered videos showing Boyd backing away from officers before Jovanovich struck her. During a subsequent interview with COPA investigators, he claimed that from his perspective, Boyd was still approaching the arresting officers until he stepped in her way and stopped her.

COPA sustained multiple allegations against Jovanovich, including that he: Used unnecessary and excessive force, stopped Boyd from recording an arrest without justification, and made false or misleading statements in his TRR.

According to the report, Gleeson and Cronin — two supervisors who reviewed Jovanovich’s version of events — also participated in a “deliberate attempt to minimize that action and misrepresent the facts that occurred” by approving the narrative contained in his TRR.

In its report, COPA also recommended a 60-day suspension for Officer Andres Valle, who witnessed the incident and failed to report it to his superiors.

“Furthermore, throughout his statement, Officer Valle took no responsibility for this failure to report,” COPA stated. “Instead, he attempted to minimize the conduct he witnessed, despite clear video evidence of its severity.”

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431