Reports detail domestic incident allegedly involving former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson
CHICAGO — On the night Chicago police responded to a domestic incident at the home of former Superintendent Eddie Johnson last month, his wife told officers Johnson had set some of her clothing on fire and had been physical with her in the past, according to police reports obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
The reports, released Tuesday through a public records request, provide a more detailed narrative of the incident than what was initially released by the Chicago Police Department.
The names of the victim and offender were redacted in the reports. But sources have told the Tribune that Johnson was identified as the offender and the victim was his wife.
Johnson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the police documents. He has not been charged in the case.
The Tribune also requested records from the city’s civilian police investigative agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. On Tuesday, the agency denied that request, saying that releasing the information would jeopardize an investigation into the matter being conducted by the Police Department’s bureau of internal affairs.
The police reports provided the following narrative of the incident:
Officers arrived at the home about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in response to a call for a well-being check.
Johnson’s wife told responding officers she wanted to show them something upstairs that needed to be reported, according to the police documents. The officers saw no visible injuries on her, the paperwork noted, she did not seem distressed and did not say that she was the victim of a battery.
When officers got to her second-floor bedroom, Johnson’s wife showed them burned clothing on a damaged comforter. She told them that a few hours earlier, there was a “heated altercation” with Johnson over their relationship, and he took a Lysol can and a lighter “with the intention” to light some of his wife’s clothing on fire.
That action “resulted in small flames on the clothes lying on the bed and comforter,” the police reports stated.
Johnson’s wife said she tried to stop him from doing more damage, at which point he grabbed her by both arms and moved her aside. She was able to pat out the burning clothes and Johnson left the bedroom, she told police.
By the time officers had gathered information from Johnson’s wife, a sergeant on the scene learned that Johnson had been in the home and left, according to the police reports.
Johnson’s wife said she didn’t want him arrested because of “extra stress in his life and only wanted a report,” the police reports state.
She also told police that night that Johnson had “battered” her in the past but she did not report the incidents. Johnson has no known criminal history.
Three days later, a detective from the Area One special victims unit called Johnson’s wife, who verified what she had told responding officers that night and added “there was a physical event” before her clothing was burned by Johnson, according to the reports.
After reviewing body camera footage and other evidence, along with the fact that Johnson’s wife didn’t want him arrested, the case was closed, according to the reports.
The domestic call was the latest in a string of incidents where Johnson has come under scrutiny since he was fired by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after a night of drinking with a subordinate in October 2019. That night ended with Johnson being found asleep behind the wheel of his city vehicle.
The subordinate, Cynthia Donald, an officer who worked on Johnson’s security detail, filed an explosive lawsuit last month accusing the former superintendent of raping and harassing her over the course of a few years. Johnson has denied those allegations.
The Tribune has reported that a Cook County grand jury has requested extensive documents about the night of drinking, an indication that prosecutors are considering criminal charges against one or more players in the incident. A subpoena obtained by the Tribune demands that the city inspector general’s office send over all of its reports on the matter.
Following an investigation by the inspector general, Donald became one of eight officers facing suspension for their role in the police response to Johnson sleeping in his SUV. Among the IG’s conclusions: Chicago police officers made a series of critical mistakes, ranging from not supervising young officers to improperly handling body-worn camera footage after Johnson was found asleep, having consumed the equivalent of 10 drinks.
Of the eight officers, Deering District Cmdr. Don Jerome, who supervised the cops who responded to Johnson’s SUV, received the most severe penalty: a 28-day suspension. The police reports released on Tuesday show he also was among the officers who responded to Johnson’s home for the domestic incident.
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