After reportedly kneeling on a 14-year-old boy he believed was stealing his son’s bicycle last month while he was off-duty outside a Park Ridge Starbucks, a Chicago police sergeant has been charged with aggravated violence.
According to the Park Ridge police, Sgt. Michael Vitellaro is accused of aggravated violence in connection with the events of July 1.
On Thursday, 49-year-old Vitellaro surrendered to Park Ridge police and was scheduled to appear in court later that day.
The boy’s relatives stated that they thought the incident had racist undertones. Vitellaro is Caucasian, her kid is of Puerto Rican heritage.
The incident took place on July 1st in the early evening in front of Starbucks at 100 S. Northwest Highway. The off-duty sergeant is purportedly shown in a video posted by the boy’s family pressing his knee into her son’s back outside a Starbucks in the northwest suburb. The man is seen surrounded by the boy’s companions, who are screaming at him to leave the teen alone.
The man can be heard stating, “He’s snatching my son’s bike.”
The pals respond, “No he’s not,” as they assist Nieves in being lifted off the ground.
A charging document claims that Vitellaro put the youngster in “an arm bar and forcibly pulled him towards the ground into a prone position” before kneeling on his back.
According to the Invisible Institute, Vitellaro has had four complaints about the use of force since entering the police department in 2000, which is higher than 63% of all officers.
On Wednesday, a representative for the Chicago police confirmed that he was stripped of his police authority. The incident is the subject of an internal inquiry that has begun.
