Alleged
victim testifies that 25-year cop struck him repeatedly without provocation in
2010 incident partially caught by surveillance camera
Gregory Jeffries says his
face was left swollen and bloodied after a Chicago police sergeant struck him
four times in 2010 without provocation.
"I felt pain,"
Gregory Jeffries testified Thursday during the first day of the trial of Sgt.
Edward Howard Jr. on charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct.
Jeffries testified that
Howard said nothing to him as he smacked him four times. Jeffries said he had
been arrested for trespassing.
Wearing baggy jeans and a
black T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a brand of jeans, Jeffries said he
never received medical treatment for his injuries but still sought
"justice" for the attack. He gave mostly brief answers to questions
and didn't show any emotion from the witness stand.
Clayton Crane, a Cook
County judge who is presiding over the bench trial at the Leighton Criminal
Court Building, will decide Howard's fate. Testimony continues next week.
In opening statements
Thursday, Assistant State's Attorney Ankur Srivastava said Howard disrespected
"the badge" the night in October 2010 when he responded to King Gyros
at 7904 S. Vincennes Ave. and struck Jeffries.
Instead of protecting and
serving, "he abused and injured," the prosecutor said.
Clips of the surveillance
video recorded outside the takeout restaurant were played in court and showed
Howard allegedly delivering three quick open-handed slaps to the teen's head
while several other Gresham District officers stood by. The fourth smack was
not caught on tape, Jeffries said.
The judge was also shown
photos of Jeffries' swollen face from the alleged beating. Jeffries' mother,
Nicole Jones, who also testified on Thursday, said she took the photos within
hours of the incident.
Howard, 49, wearing a
black suit and purple tie, took notes and spoke quietly with his attorneys as
testimony proceeded. The 25-year police veteran remains an employee of the
department but has been stripped of his police powers, said Howard's attorney,
Robert Kuzas.
Kuzas told the judge that
Howard was defending himself that night. He maintained that Jeffries was acting
"immature" and "inappropriate" and that Howard slapped him
when Jeffries was coughing up "phlegm" and preparing to spit on the
officer.
When Kuzas questioned
Jeffries on the witness stand, the alleged victim denied he was about to spit
on Howard, but Jeffries agreed he was agitated and unresponsive to officers
questioning him in the parking lot because an employee of King Gyros had
directed racial slurs at him and kicked him.