A former Chicago police officer who went viral for appearing to use excessive force on a Black female dog walker has had all charges against him related to the incident dropped.
An oversight agency, brought in to evaluate evidence from the incident, determined despite his actions being enough to have him fired or suspended, nothing supported claims that his actions were racially motivated, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped charges against ex-cop Bruce Dyker on Tuesday, Aug. 8. He was originally charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct. A month after his charges were announced, he resigned from the department.
Foxx released a statement regarding the decision.
“After consultation with the victim and her attorney, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office will not be proceeding with the criminal charges against former CPD Officer Bruce Dyker,” the statement says. “There is a civil matter pending that will be proceeding forward.”
In August 2021, Dyker approached Nikkita Brown as she walked her dog on North Avenue Beach after public hours.
Bodycam footage captured the exchange where Dyker told the young woman to leave the park. In the footage, she seems to ignore his command, focusing on him speaking to her without a mask and possibly infecting her during the highly contagious COVID-19 pandemic.
After several threats for her to yield to his instructions and her refusal, he snatched her wrist and handcuffed her. Before he cuffed Brown, he warned her that he was going to arrest her.
Brown believes the arrest was racially motivated but doesn’t think all officers are bigoted.
“But I don’t think every officer out there is bad. There’s always a bad apple,” Brown said last year. “The sergeant who came to my house to take my statement was actually quite pleasant and, in my opinion, did everything to calm me down, and that showed me that there are good officers out there.”
