a day ago
Former Robbins, Illinois police chief admits to battery charges
The former acting police chief in the south Chicago suburb of Robbins, Illinois, has pleaded guilty to battery charges.
CBS News Chicago broke the story of the allegations against former Robbins police Chief Carl Scott in July 2024.
According to the charges, a 43-year-old man came to the Robbins Police Department on July 1, 2024, to file a complaint against the chief over a previous incident.
The victim was recording the lobby with his cell phone, and when Scott approached him, the chief began filming the victim with his own cellphone, prosecutors said. Scott then ordered two other officers to come to the lobby for assistance, and asked the victim for his information so he could issue a citation for public nuisance, prosecutors said.
When the victim refused, Scott told him he would have to be taken to the back of the police station to be fingerprinted, prosecutors said. Once the victim was taken back, Scott knocked the cell phone out of his hand, shoved him into a door, and hit him in the back of the head, prosecutors said.
Scott and two other officers then led him to the back of the station, where Scott shoved him against a door frame, then shoved him into an interview room, pushed him against a wall, and told him to sit down, according to prosecutors.
Scott then ordered the other officers to turn off their body cameras, and started yelling at the victim and hit him in the face, prosecutors said. Scott then grabbed the victim by the neck, and continued to beat and yell at him for several minutes, prosecutors said.
At one point during the attack, Scott asked the other officers for their batons, but they refused, according to prosecutors. After the beating, the victim was given a ticket for public nuisance and was escorted out of the police station.
The victim tried to find his cell phone in the lobby, but couldn't, and an employee later told him Scott had picked it up, walked outside, and dropped it down a sewer, prosecutors said. The phone was later recovered from the sewer.
Scott was initially put on unpaid administrative duty following the incident. Mayor Darren Bryant later moved to fire Scott, choosing not to wait for the outcome of an investigation by the Cook County Sheriff's Public Integrity Unit. Before the mayor could fire him, Scott resigned.
Scott has now been sentenced to two years' probation. He also had his law enforcement certificate removed — meaning he can no longer work as a police Feurer
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