The Chicago Police Board on Thursday voted to fire an officer who dragged a woman by her hair and knelt on her neck in an encounter that was captured on video and went viral.
In an 8-0 vote, officer David Laskus was found guilty of all administrative charges leveled against him — including using excessive force and making a false report — in the arrest of Mia Wright in the parking lot of Brickyard Mall on May 31, 2020.
The officer’s “dishonesty relates directly to his public duties as a police officer and render him unfit to hold that office,” the board’s written ruling states.
Former Chicago Police Supt. David Brown and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability had both recommended Laskus be fired for his actions that day.
The confrontation occurred during a tumultuous weekend of demonstrations and looting sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
Wright was in a car with several family members in the mall’s parking lot when police, for no apparent reason, began to smash the windows of the vehicle with batons and order everyone out. Laskus grabbed Wright’s hair and yanked her from the car.
While Wright was on the ground, he knelt on her back and neck. Wright, who got a piece of glass in her eye from the shattered window, was held overnight at a nearby police station.
Wright has said the violent actions by police left her blind in her right eye, potentially ending her dream of becoming a paramedic. The family has said they were puzzled about why police targeted their car.
Laskus claimed someone in the car had been holding a hammer and attempting to loot a Champs Sporting Goods store.
But last June, COPA stated in a 22-page report about the confrontation that “Officer (David) Laskus fabricated the existence of the hammer to justify his actions.”
Laskus also admitted that there was no evidence of looting or a hammer found in the car, according to the written ruling.
“Since there was no evidence that Ms. Wright had engaged in any criminal activity, (Laskus) had no basis to detain her or to arrest her,” the ruling states.
Laskus said that he didn’t file a tactical response report, which is required when an officer uses excessive force, because he didn’t believe the force he used was excessive, the written ruling states.
The city settled a lawsuit brought by Wright and others with her that day for $1.67 million in February 2022.
“While the Board understands (Laskus) was faced with challenging circumstances during the period of civil unrest that took place following the death of George Floyd, Respondent’s response to these circumstances was unjustified,” the ruling states.
Contributing: Mitch Dudek, Sophie Sherry
