A West Loop man was walking in Lincoln Park earlier this month when he crossed paths with a cop who arrested him at the Chicago Pride Parade in June. Let’s just say things didn’t go very well.
Police say they saw David Galvan “impeding the flow of traffic” near Halsted and Clybourn around 10 p.m. on Sept. 12. The officers gave Galvan a verbal warning from their car.
“I remember you,” Galvan told the officers. “You locked me up at the parade.”
That’s when things “went South,” so to speak.
“You are the n*gger who was there that day. My family is from Mississippi,” Galvan allegedly recalled. “We used to own n*ggers like you.”
“We’re done here,” one of the officers replied while asking Galvan to remove his arms and head from inside their squad car. When Galvan allegedly refused to comply, the officer put his hand up “to create distance” between Galvan’s face and his own.
Police say Galvan then struck the officer in the face with his right hand. At that point, the officers got out of their car and arrested Galvan, according to an arrest report.
At the station, Galvan allegedly became argumentative with a third officer and spit in that officer’s face.
Prosecutors charged Galvan with two felony counts of aggravated battery of a police officer causing bodily harm and misdemeanor resisting arrest. Judge Arthur Willis ordered him held without bail.
Police records show that Galvan was indeed arrested after the Pride Parade on June 30.
According to a CPD report, officers saw Galvan “frantically swinging his fists” at people near Halsted and Belmont around 6:40 p.m. Galvan was accused of pushing a steel barricade into Halsted Street and forcing drivers to swerve around him as he allegedly tried to batter some passers-by.
Police said Galvan refused to comply with their orders. He allegedly struck one officer in the groin, knocked another cop to the ground by slamming him in the knee with his head and shoulder, and kicked a third officer. The whole episode was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras, police said.
Galvan was charged with two counts of aggravated battery of a police officer, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property, and resisting police in the post-parade incident. The outcome of the case was not immediately available.