Crime & Law
Police Leaders Agree to Suspend Sergeant for Violating Rights of Black Driver During Downtown Traffic Stop
(WTTW News)
A Chicago police sergeant and officer violated the constitutional rights of a Black man who was improperly searched during a downtown traffic stop and should be suspended, department leaders and the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct agreed, records show.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that two members of the tactical team assigned to patrol the Near North (18th) Police District improperly searched a driver and his car at 7:10 p.m. March 18, 2024, according to records published Thursday.
The agency better known as COPA found that officers were not justified in stopping the car on Franklin Street near Chicago Avenue and should not have searched the driver or his car after handcuffing him in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.
The stop was part of what COPA identified as a troubling pattern of 50 undocumented and unprofessional stops of Black people in Lincoln Park, West Town, Old Town, River North, Streeterville, the Gold Coast and parts of Logan Square in 2024, records show.
More than 90% of the complaints investigated by COPA were sparked by officers’ decisions to pull over Black people, according to a letter sent by COPA to the district’s commander.
This complaint is the second of those probes to be fully resolved by COPA, and the first to find that not only did Sgt. Erick Seng witness officers under his supervision violate department policy, he also violated the rights of a Chicagoan, records show.
“(Seng) did not hold himself accountable for his actions, and he allowed Officer (Joseph) Vecchio to violate (the driver’s) rights with impunity,” COPA concluded, noting that Seng has been a member of CPD for more than 20 years.
Seng, who earns $152,010 annually, is detailed to CPD’s Gang Investigation Division, according to a department spokesperson.
The agency has completed three other probes of stops made by the 18th District tactical team, but Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has objected to COPA’s findings or the discipline officials recommended, according to records obtained by WTTW News.
Lt. Kelly Schnoor, of CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs, wrote in a letter that CPD concurred with COPA’s conclusions in the March 18, 2024, case and found those violations merited the suspension of Seng for 15 days and Vecchio for 12 days.
The name of the driver was redacted from COPA’s report, which identifies him only as a Black man.
COPA had recommended suspensions of no more than 29 days for both Seng and Vecchio, records show.
The letter about COPA’s concerns involving the actions of the 18th District tactical team has been entered as evidence in at least three pending federal lawsuits that name the same tactical team of officers, court records show.
Vecchio, who earns $111,252 annually, has been stripped of his police powers, according to a department spokesperson.
“(Vecchio) offered unsubstantiated, after-the-fact justifications for the search of vehicle, raising serious questions about his credibility,” COPA concluded.
In December, police brass agreed to suspend Vecchio for 20 days in connection with another traffic stop of a Black man downtown. That incident has prompted a federal lawsuit against the city, records show.
Vecchio was named in 50 other complaints, according to records obtained by WTTW News.
In all, four other complaints against Vecchio have been sustained, resulting in suspensions totaling 29 days, records show.
Three other complaints against Seng have been sustained, resulting in suspensions totaling 16 days, records show.
Neither Vecchio nor Seng responded to a request for comment from WTTW News.
A CPD spokesperson said Vecchio and Seng had asked an arbitrator to overturn their suspensions.
First a U-Turn, Then a Traffic Stop and Search
The incident began just after 7 p.m. on March 18, 2024, with Seng and Vecchio headed north on Franklin Street through River North when they made a U-turn to stop the driver, who was headed south, according to COPA’s probe.
The driver demanded to know why he had been stopped when Vecchio approached him, prompting Vecchio to demand his license and registration before responding “we’ll let you know,” and telling the driver “I believe your registration is expired,” according to the probe.
The driver’s license and registration were valid, according to the probe.
When Vecchio returned the license and registration, he and the driver “engaged in a heated conversation about the reason for the stop,” according to the probe.
After Vecchio ordered the driver to get out of the car, the driver demanded he call a supervisor to the scene, according to the probe.
“Officer Vecchio immediately responded, ‘This is him right here…That’s why it’s not going to go good for you,’” indicating Seng, according to the probe.
After the driver was “escorted” from the car and handcuffed, another officer conducted a “protective pat-down" of the driver while Vecchio, Seng and two other officers searched the car “including the front and rear seats, floorboard, center console, glove compartment, trunk, and at least one zipped bag,” according to the probe.
“Approximately one minute after beginning the search, Officer Vecchio was captured on Body Worn Camera (BWC) commenting that he smelled cannabis,” according to the probe.
No drugs or weapons were found in the car, and the driver was released without citation, according to the probe.
Seng told investigators that they stopped the driver on suspicion he was not wearing his seat belt, according to the probe.
“Vecchio, however, told COPA that he initially believed the traffic stop was due to expired registration,” according to the probe. “Overall, COPA finds these discrepancies lessened both members’ credibility. Additionally, COPA notes that Officer Vecchio’s comment about smelling cannabis, which he made over a minute into the vehicle search, appears to be an after-the-fact justification for his actions.”
Both Seng and Vecchio alleged that the driver made “furtive movements toward the floorboard of his vehicle” making them fear a weapon was located there, according to the probe.
The driver “denied making furtive movements, and there is no objective evidence (such as video footage or independent eyewitnesses) contradicting his account,” according to the probe.
Both the traffic stop and the subsequent search of the driver and his car were improper and violated his constitutional rights, the probe concluded.
COPA investigators considered bringing charges against Vecchio and Seng for violating the department rule that prohibits all department members from making false statements, but “ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence to meet its burden of proof that any of the members provided willfully false statements,” according to the probe.
In addition, Vecchio and Seng failed to properly document the traffic stop, as required by department policy, according to the probe.
Spotlight on Repeated Misconduct by Officers
Mayor Brandon Johnson has vowed to stop repeated instances of misconduct by the same officers, which cost Chicago taxpayers $295 million between 2019 and 2024, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
The terms of the federal court order that requires CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers obligates the city to set up an early warning system that would identify problematic officers and get them off the street.
That system has yet to be implemented citywide, despite years of attempts. Johnson’s 2026 spending plan, if approved, would require CPD leaders to submit monthly reports to the City Council about progress on the system.
The eight officers named in COPA’s letter, which includes Vecchio and Seng, have been named in 13 lawsuits filed by Chicago drivers who said they were improperly stopped and searched near the North Michigan Avenue shopping district because they are Black, according to an analysis of court records by WTTW News.
Chicago taxpayers have paid a combined $378,000 to resolve six of those lawsuits, records show. Each of the settlements were authorized by Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry and did not require City Council approval.
The city is facing a separate class-action lawsuit that accuses CPD of targeting Black and Latino drivers with a massive campaign of traffic stops in what the lawsuit describes as the latest chapter of the city’s “long and sordid history” of racist discrimination.
Officers assigned to the 18th District tactical team stopped drivers for stopping too far away from the curb, stopping in a no-parking zone and for failing to wear a seat belt, which COPA calls “pretextual,” according to COPA’s letter.
The officers demonstrated a “consistent” failure to document the stops, as required by CPD policy and failed to record them by activating their body-worn cameras, according to COPA’s letter.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
