CPD officer paralyzed while breaking up bar fight sues alleged gunmen, bar owner

A Chicago police officer who was shot in the spine while breaking up a fight at a Beverly bar last year has sued the alleged gunmen and the bar owner, claiming lax security and violations of city licenses led to a violent melee outside the tavern.

Sean’s Rhino Bar & Grill should have been closed nearly an hour before a fight broke out inside the tavern in the early-morning hours of July 9, 2022, but the bar was packed with patrons who had spent hours drinking after a massive softball tournament, according to a lawsuit filed last month by Chicago Police Officer Danny Golden and his brother, John.

Danny Golden, 32, was off duty and hanging out with family and friends in the bar when Bryant Hayes, Demetrius Harrell and Justen Krismantis entered the bar around 2:30 a.m. — after the bar’s 2 a.m. liquor license required staff to close the doors, according to the lawsuit.

The bar had only two “slightly built female bartenders” on staff that night and no security guards to prevent patrons from entering after hours or to break up a heated argument like the one between Hayes, Harrell and Krismantis and others inside Rhino Bar. Bar staff “implored” Golden to help as the fight spilled out into the street in front of the bar, according to the lawsuit.

Outside, Golden separated the combatants and even stopped someone from chasing Krismantis as he ran to his car, prosecutors said at a bail hearing last year. Krismantis returned with a .40-caliber pistol, which he handed to Hayes, who fired 19 shots at Golden, one of which struck Golden’s spine, according to prosecutors.

Hayes, in turn, handed the gun to Harrell, who fired another three rounds at Golden, prosecutors said. John Golden was shot in the leg as he tried to help his brother, the lawsuit states. Hayes, Harrell and Krismantis all have been jailed while awaiting trial on charges related to the shooting.

The bar shut down last year after the city cited its ownership, The Johns Den, for violations of its liquor license, and media reports indicate it is up for sale. Illinois corporation records indicate The Johns Den was involuntarily dissolved in November. The person who answered the phone Friday at a number listed for Johns Den’s listed president, Dennis Shaughnessy, declined comment. Golden’s attorney did not immediately return a phone call from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Golden, a third-generation Chicago police officer and Army veteran, wheeled himself out of a rehab hospital in August and, according to his father, hoped to walk down the aisle at his wedding this fall. As of Thursday, a GoFundMe page for Golden had raised more than $1.5 million from 11,000 donors.

The lawsuit alleges negligence by the bar’s owners and Krismantis, and assault and battery against Hayes and Harrell. The Goldens are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.