Woman who says cop dragged her by hair, knelt on her neck wants charge dropped

A 25-year-old woman is asking the city to drop a disorderly conduct charge against her stemming from last month’s incident where she said a Chicago police officer dragged her by her hair from a car and knelt on her neck at Brickyard Mall.

In a letter Wednesday addressed to city’s Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner, attorneys for Mia Wright called the charge against her “baseless, frivolous, and quite frankly offensive given the circumstances.”

Wright was in the front passenger seat of her cousin’s car on May 31 when police smashed the windows of the vehicle with batons and ordered everyone out at the West Side mall.

Wright said one of the officers grabbed her by the hair and dragged her from the car and later knelt on her neck.

The incident was recorded by bystanders. Wright’s family has said they have no idea why their car was targeted by police.

“It is clear from the video of the incident, neither Ms. Wright nor any of the occupants of her car were engaged in any illegal activity,” the letter to the city stated. “Also, the force used was brutal and unjustified because the vehicle in which Ms. Wright was an occupant was not engaged in any form of escape or resistance when the police approached and before their brutal attack.”

Wright, an assistant funeral director and an EMT student, continues to suffer pain in her neck and back due to the force officers used, and her right eye “is now practically blind” — as a result of glass from the shattered window — and “may be permanent,” the letter said.

Wright’s attorneys accused the city of essentially asking her to pay a fine “for being a survivor of police brutality” by continuing to charge her.

The incident is under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and Police Supt. David Brown has promised “swift action” as soon as the investigation is complete.

A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department said it was reviewing the citation and would “determine an appropriate path forward” accordingly.