The Chicago police officer who got into a confrontation last year with a Black woman who was walking her dog at North Avenue Beach has resigned from the department.
A cellphone video showing Officer Bruce Dyker grabbing Nikkita Brown shortly after midnight on Aug. 28 as she walked her French bulldog went viral shortly after the incident.
Dyker, who had been on desk duty, resigned last month, the department confirmed, before any formal disciplinary charges were handed down.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates officers’ use of force, wrapped up its investigation into the case in October and passed along its disciplinary recommendations to Police Supt. David Brown.
Supt. Brown’s decision, which could have ranged from suspension to termination, had been passed along to the city’s Law Department for review.
Nikkita Brown previously told the Sun-Times she believes the incident was racially motivated and she wanted to see Dyker fired and criminally prosecuted.
“But I don’t think every officer out there is bad. There’s always a bad apple,” Brown said.
“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.”
The cellphone video, as well as footage from Dyker’s bodycam, show that Dyker got out of his squad car and approached Brown to demand she leave the park because it was closed. Brown begins to walk away from Dyker, who follows 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,” he said.
“Back up,” Brown told Dyker.
“Do you want to test me on this?” Dyker said.
“Back up,” Brown repeated before Dyker grabbed her and a physical confrontation ensued for more than a minute.
John Catanzara, head of the Chicago police union that represents rank-and-file officers, said Dyker would not be available to comment about his resignation.
“Bruce just had enough of the nonsense and scrutiny for doing his job,” Catanzara said Wednesday. “He got the hell out of this city and got the hell out of this state and is moving on with his life.”
Brown’s attorney, Michael Gallagher, took issue with Catanzara’s comments.
“The FOP President Catanzara’s claim that Officer Dyker was ‘just doing his job’ is just another example of him covering for rogue officers,” Gallagher said. “Based on his horrible record, Officer Dyker’s badge should have been taken away years ago.”
Dyker, who became a Chicago cop in 1998, had 25 complaints against him, including three that were sustained.
The most serious disciplinary measure he faced stemmed from a November 2008 off-duty domestic incident in New Tazewell, Tennessee. 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.
