Chicago police have stripped an officer of his powers and charged him with two misdemeanors after two other cops accused him of pulling a gun and threatening to shoot them during an off-duty incident in Roscoe Village last summer.
In December, while an investigation of the incident was ongoing, the same officer sparked another investigation when he walked into a Lakeview hospital with a gunshot wound that he claimed occurred on the same block in Roscoe Village, according to CPD documents.
Angel Escobedo, 29, surrendered to police in the presence of his attorney on Wednesday, according to a police report provided to CWBChicago. He was relieved of his police powers the same day, a CPD spokesperson said. Records show he joined the force in October 2017.
The charges stem from a confrontation on the 2300 block of West School at 2:35 a.m. on August 21, 2021.
It began when Escobedo took a woman’s phone and refused to give it back, according to a CPD report. The two off-duty cops asked the woman, who was also an off-duty CPD officer, if she was OK.
Escobedo “began to act in a very belligerent manner” toward the two men “telling them he was ‘real police’ because he worked in the [Lawndale-based 11th Police District] and had made several unlawful possession of firearm arrests,” the CPD report said.
Escobedo calmed down and left the scene, only to return a few moments later driving a red Jeep Cherokee, according to the report. He allegedly rolled down the passenger window and pointed a gun at the two officers, telling them repeatedly, “I’ll f*cking kill you.”
The woman eventually climbed into Escobedo’s SUV and they left, the CPD report said. Both victims remained at the scene and called 911. Town Hall (19th) District dispatchers declared a “10-1” police emergency in response to their calls.
Upon his surrender, Escobedo was charged with two counts of misdemeanor aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the CPD spokesperson said. He was released on his own recognizance 80 minutes later.
December shooting
On December 4, CPD issued a media statement about the alleged shooting of an off-duty Chicago police officer on the 2300 block of School Street that morning:
2300 block of W. School St., on 04 Dec 21, at approximately 4:30 a.m
Currently, the Chicago Police Department and Civilian Office of Police Accountability are investigating an incident in which an off-duty officer sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. According to Preliminary Information, the incident happened in the 2300 block of W. School St. on December 4, 2021, at approximately 4:30 a.m. The officer was treated at Illinois Masonic hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No further information.
Police records show the off-duty officer involved in that alleged shooting is 29-year-old Angel E. Escobedo. Don Terry, CPD’s director of communications, would not confirm Escobedo’s involvement in the shooting, citing a department policy that prohibits the public identification of crime victims.
Dispatchers sent a patrol unit to Masonic around 6:50 a.m. on December 4 after a gunshot victim, identified as Angel Escobedo, walked into the emergency room, dispatch records show.
The police received no calls of shots fired at the alleged shooting scene and no one called 911 to report being shot in the entire 19th District, according to dispatch records.
Cops found a red Jeep Cherokee parked in a garage on the 600 block of West Diversey about 90 minutes later, according to a police report. It reportedly showed signs of gunshot damage. A firearm was allegedly found inside a Volkswagen parked next to the Jeep.
When a cop asked a dispatcher to send an evidence technician to the garage, they said the Jeep belonged to the shooting victim and the Volkswagen belonged to his girlfriend.
The parking garage is located more than two miles from the 2300 block of West School and half a mile beyond Masonic.
No one has been charged in connection with the December shooting and no one is accused of any wrongdoing in the case.
