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| Surveillance video catches police officer beating a stabbing victim while cuffed to a wheelchair in 2005. (CBS) |
Posted: Thursday, 22 January 2009 1:41PM
Cop Pleads Guilty To Beating Man In Wheelchair
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CHICAGO (STNG) ― A Chicago Police officer pleaded guilty Thrusday to violating the civil rights of a 60-year-old man he beat while the man was handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair.
"I lost it," Officer William Cozzi admitted in federal court.
The government is seeking a sentence of six to eight years for the 51-year-old officer, previously convicted on a state charge of misdemeanor battery and sentenced to 18 months' probation.
After the Chicago Sun-Times obtained a videotape of the beating, police Supt. Jody Weis referred the case to the FBI for federal prosecution. Cozzi appeared Thursday before U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning to change his plea to guilty.
The federal charges were brought against Cozzi in April in connection with the beating of Randle Miles on Aug. 2, 2005, at Norwegian American Hospital in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The grand jury indictment came less than three months after the Sun-Times obtained a copy of the videotape and reported that newly hired police superintendent Weis was unhappy Cozzi had not been fired.
Prosecutors said the tape shows Cozzi hitting Miles about 10 times with a "sap," or a bludgeon. Miles does not appear to resist, but he was charged with resisting arrest.
Cozzi has been suspended without pay.
Cozzi said Miles became "combative" at the hospital. "I made a mistake," Cozzi said. "I should not have hit him because he was handcuffed and secured."
Cozzi's attorney, Terence Gillespie, told the judge that his client was "very nervous and scared" and looked forward to giving a more detailed explanation of his actions before he is sentenced March 26.
The Fraternal Order of Police has criticized Weis for re-opening the case against Cozzi, suggesting that the charges violated his constitutional protection against double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime.
The FOP noted that Cozzi lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in income because of his continuing suspension, while Miles was compensated by the city.
The FOP said Miles received no injuries, although his attorney said he required stitches.
Cozzi joined the department in 1992 and was assigned to the 25th District at the time of the beating.
The day of the incident, Miles had been stabbed by a young woman. Instead of getting treatment right away, he "downed a bottle of gin," according to his lawyer, Timothy Whiting.
But friends urged him to go to the hospital. Once there, he became "agitated" and "somewhat abusive," prompting hospital security to call Cozzi, Whiting said.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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