More information tonight about what was happening at Big City Tap on Sunday night before bystanders recorded footage of a Chicago police officer intervening in a large fight at 1010 West Belmont. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer’s actions, according to the Chicago Police Department.
A woman is seen on video battering a doorman at the bar before an officer separates her and she falls to the ground. In one video, the woman’s legs begin shaking or kicking in the air while a spectator screams “she’s having a seizure.”
The videos were recorded as police were in their fifth hour of trying to maintain order along Belmont Avenue where large, lingering crowds sparked a series of fights following the parade.
Now, CWBChicago has learned that two people were arrested in connection with the incident. The woman who is said to have experienced a seizure is named on one of the reports as being a battery offender who “is not in custody due to hospitalization.” We are not identifying the woman because she has not yet been charged with a crime.
Arrested at the scene were 20-year-old Simone Jones of Gary, IN, and 21-year-old Freddie Gordon of Indianapolis.
In Jones’ and Gordon’s arrest reports, officers said they were waved down to assist in a disturbance at Big City that involved “a large crowd of people and security.” Officers said they saw Jones, Gordon, and the woman involved in a physical altercation with a bouncer.
After quelling the fight, the doormen told police that Gordon punched both doormen in their heads and bodies. During the disturbance, Jones was asked to move away from the bar and she refused, the doormen said. She then “began throwing several objects” at a doorman, spat on him, and “battered him repeatedly,” the police report said. Jones allegedly punched and kicked the doorman when he tried to detain her for police.
The doormen are 41- and 33-years-old, according to the police reports.
Gordon is charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery. Jones is charged with a single count of misdemeanor battery. Both were released on recognizance bonds.
