Chicago — A man arrested for allegedly hitting passersby with a briefcase in River North got into much bigger trouble—picking up a hate crime charge—while detained at the local Chicago police station.
Officers arrested David Henderson, 46, in the 700 block of North Rush Street around 5:20 p.m. Monday. Witnesses told the cops that Henderson was hitting people with a briefcase, and two victims, a 45-year-old woman, and a 63-year-old man, were still at the scene, according to a CPD arrest report.
While the cops were driving Henderson to the Near North (18th) District station, he made “multiple racially derogative comments” to the officers, at least one of whom was Hispanic, prosecutors said. And he went on to make similar comments to other officers at the station.
In a note on Henderson’s arrest report, the police station lockup keeper wrote, “Mr. Henderson stated to lockup personnel that he didn’t want any n*ggers or f*gs or Mexicans touching him for any reason. He only wants white people to talk to him or touch him.”
At one point, Henderson allegedly spat in the face of a Hispanic female officer, calling her a “sp*c, n*gger and Latin King.”
He is charged with hate crime, aggravated battery of a peace officer, and two misdemeanor battery counts. Prosecutors said he is on court supervision for randomly punching two people in Lincoln Park last autumn.
An assistant public defender said Henderson holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources but is currently unemployed and homeless. He’s lived in Chicago for about two years, the lawyer said.
Judge Barbara Dawkins told him he had to pay a $7,000 bail deposit to be released on electronic monitoring.