Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped charges Tuesday against a former Chicago police officer who was the subject of a viral video that captured his confrontation with a woman walking her dog two years ago at North Avenue Beach.
Tuesday had been reserved as a trial date, court records show. Instead, prosecutors announced they would be dropping all charges against former Officer Bruce Dyker, who resigned last year.
“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 office said in a written statement. “There is a civil matter pending that will be proceeding forward.”
Dyker was charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct a month after his resignation from the department.
Footage from a bystander’s cellphone and Dyker’s body-worn camera captured the former officer’s interaction with Nikkita Brown in August 2021 as she walked her French bulldog at North Avenue Beach.
Dyker got out of his squad car and approached Brown while demanding she leave the park because it was closed. Brown is seen trying to walk away from Dyker, who followed her.
“You need to move away from me. I feel threatened,” she said.
“Good,” Dyker responded. “I’m about to put handcuffs on you if you don’t keep walking.”
“Back up,” Brown told Dyker.
“Do you want to test me on this?” Dyker asked.
“Back up,” Brown repeated before Dyker grabbed her, leading to a physical confrontation that lasted more than a minute.
Brown said afterward that she believed Dyker’s actions were racially motivated.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability concluded that available evidence could not establish that Brown “was treated differently from other similarly situated individuals of a nonprotected class,” but still recommended that Dyker be fired or suspended for using excessive force.
Dyker, who joined the police department in 1998, amassed 25 complaints against him during his career, including three that were sustained.
The most serious stemmed from a November 2008 off-duty domestic incident in New Tazewell, Tennessee, the Sun-Times previously reported. Dyker was suspended for 20 days after he allegedly verbally abused and pointed his weapon at a victim and failed to follow lawful police orders.
Court records show Dyker has moved to Texas. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
