An Uptown man has pleaded guilty to battering and pepper-spraying two Chicago cops who tried to arrest him last year for allegedly beating a Grindr date with a hammer in Boystown.
Prosecutors said in June 2019 that 29-year-old Cedrick Johnson used the gay dating app to meet a 47-year-old man in the 600 block of West Aldine. At some point during their two-hour rendezvous, Johnson allegedly struck the victim repeatedly in the head with a hammer and stole property, including the man’s cellular phone, according to a police report.
Cops who responded to the alleged victim’s home reported finding a hammer and blood spattered throughout a bedroom, reports show. But a couple of hours after calling 911 for help — and after being treated for multiple “indentations of the cranium” at a nearby hospital — the victim told police that he no longer wished to pursue charges against the Johnson.
Early the next morning, the injured man called 911 again because his stolen phone was pinging near a convenience store on the corner of Roscoe and Halsted streets, according to a CPD report. He went to the area, spotted Johnson, and pointed him out to nearby patrol officers.
Surveillance video provided to CWBChicago by a source shows what happened next.
Johnson hit the officer in the head with a can of pepper spray, causing the container to explode, a CPD spokesperson said. A sergeant is nearly stopped in his tracks when the gas hits him in the eyes. Three additional officers and at least one bystander were overcome by the effects of the spray, police said.
According to a CPD report, police recovered a cellular phone from Johnson that was returned to the victim.
A grand jury later approved 36 felony counts against Johnson. He has now pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery of a police officer and one count of resisting police. Prosecutors dropped all of the other charges.
Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer sentenced him to five years on the battery count and one year for resisting. He’ll receive 527 days credit for the time he spent in jail before sentencing.
In 2015, Johnson received a 42-month sentence for committing a robbery on the 900 block of West Belmont.
