Chicago cop charged with illegally tasing man in Dunning

A Chicago police officer is facing felony charges after allegedly illegally tasing a man who fell to the ground and broke his nose in Dunning on the Northwest Side.

After the incident, Officer Marco Simonetti, 58, said over the radio, “I had to tase him,” but prosecutors said the man was “crouching with his hands down touching the ground” when Simonetti deployed the Taser.

Simonetti is charged with felony aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and official misconduct, according to a bond proffer prepared by Cook County prosecutors. He appeared in court Thursday and was released from custody after posting bail, according to court records.

He was ordered by a judge not to have contact with the victim. Simonetti, who has been with the department since 1994, is also not allowed to carry a gun and must surrender his FOID card and any weapons.

At a news conference Thursday, Chicago police Supt. David Brown said the department’s internal investigation was ongoing.

“Generally, we don’t respond to ongoing investigations from employment circumstances. So what I will say, we’re in process of relief of power, because he was arrested. The investigation will obviously be ongoing and conclude with, at some point, some recommendation for ultimately disciplining the officer,” Brown said.

About 11 a.m. on Aug. 7, 2021, Simonetti, who was on duty and in full uniform, responded to a call of a suspicious person pulling on gates in the 3500 block of North Normandy Avenue, prosecutors said.

When he arrived, the person who called 911 approached Simonetti and pointed out the suspicious person. The man, who was sitting on the porch of a nearby home, walked toward Simonetti and told him that he was doing nothing wrong.

After the man couldn’t provide his ID or proof that he lived in the home, Simonetti asked the man to put his hands on the squad car. The man complied, but then ran in the direction of the home when Simonetti grabbed his wrist.

Simonetti ran after him while shouting, “I’m going to tase you!” and “Get down on the ground!”

The man stopped, put his hands up and began backing up onto the sidewalk. The man insisted he had done nothing wrong and began crouching, standing up and crouching again. Simonetti yelled, “I’m going to Tase you, last warning!”

As the man crouched with his hands touching the ground, Simonetti deployed his Taser, according to prosecutors. One of the prongs struck the man in the arm and the other in the forehead. The man fell forward on his face and began to bleed and convulse.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for a broken nose and a cut that required stitches, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that in Simonetti’s write-up of the incident, which was recorded on his body-worn camera, he stated that he “unintentionally deployed the Taser.”