Windy City Times has learned that embattled Chicago police officer Richard Fiorito will not be prosecuted and criminal proceedings have been stopped, according to the State's Attorney's Office.
Fiorito had been under investigation for allegedly falsifying DUI arrest reports. Also, it was alleged that he targeted LGBT motorists in particular, using anti-gay slurs during those arrests.
Sally Daly, spokeswoman from the state's attorney's office, said that her department sent a letter to Chicago Police Department Superintendent Jody Weis saying that no criminal charges will be filed. Daly said that the office had gone over all the pleadings and depositions, had interviewed dozens of witnesses and had looked at the full video footage. "At this point and time, it was not sufficient to sustain the criminal charge against Officer Fiorito," Daly said. Daly also said that there were inconsistencies between the allegations in the federal lawsuit and what they found in their criminal investigation.
In response to criticism that the state's attorney's office does not go after police officers as it should, Daly said, "That criticism could not be further from the truth. [ Anita Alvarez, the state's attorney ] has not shied away from placing charges against police officers if they have, in fact, committed a criminal act."
According to an item in the Jan. 20 of Windy City Times, Gay Liberation Network's Andy Thayer said that his organization "got word from inside the State's Attorney's office" that the state's attorney, Anita Alvarez, had decided not to move forward with the case, which had been under investigation by a grand jury.
When asked by Windy City Times if the state's attorney's office made any recommendations to Weis regarding Fiorito, Daly responded that it had not.
Thirty-seven plaintiffs are involved in a separate civil-rights case against Fiorito. Fiorito, who worked in Lakeview, had been accused of falsifying DUI arrestsallegedly to increase the overtime pay that comes with court testimony in those casesand harassing LGBT motorists.
Assisted by Andrew Davis