A judge on Thursday found two Chicago police officers not guilty of unjustifiably shooting an unarmed man in Pilsen in July of 2022.
Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood handed down the verdict in front of a courtroom packed with police and other supporters of the officers just days before he is set to retire on Saturday.“I find both officers acted within reason in firing their weapons under these particular circumstances,” Flood said.
Christopher Liakopoulos, 44, and Ruben Reynoso, 43, were charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and two counts of official misconduct, all felonies.Cook County prosecutors alleged that Liakopoulos and Reynoso were not in danger and had no reason to fear for their lives when they fired on Miguel Medina, a now 24-year-old Addison man who was injured in the shooting in the 1000 block of West 18th Street around 7 a.m. on July 22, 2022.
Medina was unarmed, though he was with a teen who had a gun and subsequently shot at the officers after Medina was shot, prosecutors said. In a two day bench trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors showed surveillance video that they said depicted the officers firing at Medina while he raised a hand to them, with his other hand holding a wine bottle. They proffered department reports in which the officers lied, saying they were fired upon first, prosecutors alleged.Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.
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