An Uptown man deployed mace inside a popular Loop pub over the weekend, then smacked a cop in the head with the spray can and gave officers a blast of the chemical, too, prosecutors said. Nkosi Hampton, 24, is charged with thirteen counts of misdemeanor battery for allegedly spraying people inside the bar and another three felony counts of aggravated battery of peace officers.
Hampton believes he was “roofied,” according to his defense attorney.
Patrol officers saw people screaming and holding their faces as they ran out of the Emerald Loop Bar & Grill, 216 North Wabash, around 1 a.m. Sunday. According to prosecutors, witnesses pointed to Hampton and told police that he sprayed mace into a crowd inside the bar.
Officers approached Hampton, who allegedly struck one of them in the head with a can of mace before fleeing. He then sprayed the cops as they pursued him, prosecutors said.
During a bail hearing on Monday, an assistant public defender told Judge Kelly McCarthy, “Mr. Hampton believes he was roofied during this incident.”
He said Hampton is trying to enroll in a nursing program.
McCarthy held Hampton in lieu of $40,000 bail. He must post 10% of that amount to go home on electronic monitoring under her order.
According to prosecutors, he was convicted of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in 2018 and sentenced to probation.
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