Crime & Law
CPD Officer Arrested for Domestic Battery Day After Ex-Top Cop, Police Board Said He Should Be Fired
(WTTW News)
A Chicago police officer repeatedly accused of improperly stopping and searching Black men downtown should be fired for making false statements under oath about two separate stops, according to former Chicago Police Department Supt. Larry Snelling and the Chicago Police Board, records show.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that Officer Joseph Vecchio, who has been stripped of his badge and assigned to administrative duties for 10 months, violated the rights of both drivers in the stops and should be terminated, according to records published Thursday by the Chicago Police Board.
In one incident, both investigators with the agency better known as COPA and Snelling agreed Vecchio should be fired for filing an official report that included false information that led to the conviction of a Chicago man after an August 2024 traffic stop, records show.
In the other incident, which happened two months later, COPA concluded Vecchio not only filed an official report about that traffic stop that included false information but made three false statements, under oath, during a court hearing before charges were dropped against that driver, records show.
Snelling, who retired July 15, objected to COPA’s recommendation that Vecchio be fired for testifying falsely about his actions during the October 2024 traffic stop.
However, a member of the Chicago Police Board rejected the superintendent’s objection, and upheld COPA’s conclusion, records show.
Less than 24 hours after those recommendations became public, Vecchio was arrested and charged with a felony count of aggravated domestic battery. Cook County Circuit Judge Kimberly Przekota ordered him held in jail pending trial, records show.
In that case, prosecutors accused Vecchio of punching a woman they described as his girlfriend in the head, kneeing her in the face and choking her with both hands. Although Vecchio prevented her from leaving, she escaped the apartment by climbing from a third-floor balcony on to a second-floor balcony, where a neighbor took her to the Jefferson Park (16th) Police District station, where she filed a report, records show.
Vecchio did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News about the recommendation he be terminated. Thomas Mahoney, his defense attorney, declined to comment.
Vecchio served a 15-day suspension in 2023 after COPA concluded that he was responsible for a “domestic violence incident” when he threatened a woman in April 2020 with whom he told investigators he had an “on and off again” relationship. Vecchio also threw eggs at her car and damaged her cell phone and vacuum, according to the COPA report.
Vecchio Named in 24 Lawsuits: Records
Both of the drivers stopped by Vecchio and another officer on the tactical team that had been assigned to patrol the Near North (18th) Police District have sued the city. The city has already spent more than $37,000 to defend the police department and the officers, records obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act.
City attorneys for the city of Chicago are negotiating a “global settlement” to resolve both lawsuits, as well as 15 other claims, naming eight members of the tactical team, court records show.
Both drivers are represented by attorney Jordan Marsh, who told WTTW News his clients are “gratified” that officials “acknowledged the threat posed by” Vecchio.
“It took a long time, unfortunately, for officials to see through the lies,” Marsh said, noting that Vecchio falsely testified about incidents he knew had been captured by his body-worn camera. “I’m glad they are off the streets.”
Five members of the Near North (18th) Police District tactical team have been stripped of their badges and guns after COPA identified a troubling pattern of undocumented and unprofessional traffic stops of Black Chicagoans in December 2024.
In all, Vecchio has been named in 24 lawsuits alleging he committed a wide range of misconduct, records show. City attorneys settled four of those lawsuits for a total of $260,000, court records show.
The traffic stop that both COPA officials and Snelling agreed should prompt Vecchio’s termination took place on Aug. 25, 2024, near Erie and Dearborn streets in the city’s Gold Coast.
Vecchio and Officer Crystina Kittrell stopped Lamar Buckner, who is Black, on suspicion for failing to signal as he pulled into traffic and for an improperly tinted front windshield, records show.
Buckner’s name was redacted from the report published by the Police Board but is part of the public record because he sued the city.
The arrest report signed by Vecchio and Kittrell said they ordered Buckner out of the car in order to search him and the car after they saw him making “furtive movements” toward the glovebox where they found a gun.
That was false, Kittrell acknowledged to COPA investigators, and said the report was completed by Vecchio without her knowledge.
As a result of the traffic stop, Buckner was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and pleaded guilty on the advice of his lawyer in return for probation, records show.
COPA investigators concluded that Vecchio and Kittrell searched Buckner and his car without justification and “failed to accurately detail the facts and circumstances of their interaction” with Buckner in official police reports, records show.
COPA recommended that Vecchio be fired and Kittrell suspended for at least 90 and no more than 179 days for their conduct, records show.
Snelling objected to that conclusion, determining that Vecchio and Kittrell acted in accordance with CPD policy when they searched Buckner and his car but agreed that Vecchio should be fired for filing a police report that included false statements.
In all, officials have recommended that Kittrell be suspended for 104 days in connection with three traffic stops in 2024, records show. Kittrell, who earns more than $111,200 annually, remains assigned to the Near North (18th) Police District, which includes the Gold Coast.
Two months after he stopped Buckner, Vecchio pulled over another Black Chicagoan.
Accompanied by Officer Richard Rodriquez, his long-time partner, Vecchio stopped Tavaris Quinn, who was in the passenger seat of his wife’s BMW, which was stopped outside the Neiman Marcus department store along Michigan Avenue near Superior Street just before 6 p.m. Oct. 25, 2024, records show.
Quinn’s name was redacted from the Police Board report but is part of the public record because he sued the city.
After Vecchio ordered Quinn out of the car, Rodriquez searched him while Vecchio searched the car and recovered a gun in the center console. While Quinn had a valid Firearm Owner Identification Card, he did not possess a concealed carry license, records show.
Quinn was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and a parking violation, records show.
The arrest report signed by Vecchio and Rodriquez said they witnessed Quinn “reach into his waistband and remove an object described as L-shaped in appearance” and put that item into the center console of the car, prompting the officers to order Quinn out of the car, search him and the car.
Vecchio repeated that statement under oath, which COPA investigators concluded was false, based on video captured by Vecchio’s body-worn camera that showed Quinn was “calmly seated looking at his cell phone, which he was holding in his right hand,” when Vecchio approached his car, records show.
In addition, Vecchio’s testimony that the first part of the car he searched was the center console was false, according to his body-worn camera footage, COPA concluded. In fact, Vecchio searched the car’s back seat, the driver’s door panel and the floor of the driver’s seat area before opening the center console and finding the gun, records show.
COPA recommended that Vecchio be fired and Rodriquez suspended for at least 90 and no more than 179 days, records show.
Snelling objected to that conclusion, determining that Vecchio did not provide false testimony and did not violate CPD policy during the traffic stop and should face no discipline. Snelling recommended that Rodriquez be suspended for five days for improperly searching Quinn, records show.
The disagreement between the city’s former top cop and COPA meant it was up to Chicago Police Board Member Arlette Porter, who was randomly chosen in keeping with the city’s rules, to determine whether Snelling met “his burden of overcoming” Chief Administrator LaKenya White’s determinations.
Porter ruled that COPA’s recommendations should stand, finding Vecchio and Rodriquez violated department policy when they stopped and searched Quinn and his car.
“Furthermore, Officer Vecchio’s inaccuracies, untruths, and misleading testimony before the court was egregious and in direct contravention to CPD policy regarding honesty and accountability,” Porter wrote.
Twenty complaints against Rodriquez have been sustained, resulting in recommended suspensions totaling 241 days, records show. Rodriquez, who could not be reached for comment by WTTW News, earns more than $111,200 annually. He was stripped of his badge and assigned to administrative duties in February.
Vecchio used unjustified force against a third driver during a separate stop he conducted with Rodriquez on June 25, 2024, and should be suspended for that incident, COPA concluded.
That stop, near Illinois and Dearborn streets downtown, began when Vecchio and Rodriquez attempted to arrest two men who were blocking the street while conducting a drug sale, records show.
Both men resisted arrest, and during the altercation, Vecchio pulled one man’s hair before grabbing him around the neck, records show. Vecchio failed to report that he used force during the incident, records show.
COPA ruled his use of force was unjustified and he should be suspended for at least 1 but no more than 29 days, records show.
Snelling objected to COPA’s conclusion that Vecchio’s use of force violated CPD policy, but agreed to suspend him for 15 days for failing to report it to his superiors.
Police Board Member Tyler Hall upheld Snelling’s finding that Vecchio’s use of force was reasonable and imposed a 15-day suspension for failing to report what happened, records show.
Twenty-four complaints against Vecchio have been sustained, resulting in recommended suspensions totaling 236 days, records show.
However, Chicago officials will not be able to fire Vecchio any time soon because of a long-running dispute over whether officers accused of serious misconduct have the right to ask an arbitrator — and not the Chicago Police Board — to decide their fate, and whether those proceedings must take place in public.
The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to decide the issue and is scheduled to hold oral arguments during its September term, according to a court spokesperson. It is unlikely a decision will come before the end of the year.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
