David Ross passed the strenuous test to join the Chicago Police Department’s mounted patrol in 2023 — successfully climbing onto a horse, lifting five bales of hay and moving a 1,200 pound dumpster.
The only problem: Officer Ross was on medical leave at the time and was supposed to be recovering from an “unbearable” knee injury sustained during an on-duty crash, police records show.
Police investigators recommended he be fired for violating the department’s leave policy, according to the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
But records show police lawyers are still reviewing the case, and police Supt. Larry Snelling hasn’t filed formal charges seeking Ross’ dismissal. It’s one of at least four disciplinary cases involving Ross that haven’t been finalized.
Meantime, a newly released COPA report shows he was given a six-month suspension for choking a boy who was having a mental health episode in 2024.
A nearly 12-year police veteran, Ross has been named in over a dozen complaints throughout his career, records show.
He has been relieved of his police powers for nearly two years and has been reassigned to the department’s alternate response section, staffed by cops who have been benched and others not cleared medically for full duty.
Ross’ lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment. A police spokesperson declined to comment.
Back in the saddle
Ross was injured in the on-duty collision in early 2023, according to a report issued by the police department’s internal affairs bureau.
He tried to go back to work after two days, but the pain in his knee was “unbearable” so he went back on leave, according to the report. A doctor prescribed pain medication and physical therapy.
Then in March 2023, Ross got a note from another doctor allowing him to participate in the test to join the mounted unit. Around the same time, Ross’ other doctor reported he should remain on medical leave for another month and half.
Still, Ross completed the physically taxing assessment for the mounted patrol on April 28, 2023. Only about one-third of candidates typically pass, according to the report, and Ross was one of them that year.
But when a message went out announcing the officers who’d be moving on to the next round of training, a supervisor spotted Ross’ name and flagged the potential leave violation.
Investigators sustained five allegations against Ross and recommended dismissal, according to the new COPA report recommending the separate six-month suspension.
The recommendation to fire Ross was redacted from the internal affairs report detailing his alleged violations of the department’s medical leave policies.
A lengthy suspension
About a year after those alleged violations, on June 27, 2024, Ross was training another cop when he got a call about armed men walking around the West Side.
When the officers arrived, they found three boys playing with a Nerf gun.
The officers approached the boys with guns drawn and ordered them up against a fence, COPA said. The toy was found in one of the boys’ waistbands.
Another boy was wearing a backpack, which Ross believed was concealing a firearm, according to COPA. Ross shoved his gun into the boy’s back during a search.
The boy told Ross that he might as well shoot him, COPA said. Ross then pulled the boy to the ground, straddled him and pressed his fist against the boy’s neck.
Video shows the boy “gasped for air, made choking noises, and said, ‘I can’t breathe,’” according to COPA. The boy later told COPA he had ringing in his ears and almost passed out as he struggled to get Ross off of him.
Officers eventually cuffed the boy, then left him unattended in the back of a squad car, COPA said. Even as the boy was thrusting himself against the door, making a large banging sound, no one went to check on him.
The boy was able to move his handcuffs to the front of his body and retrieve a pocket knife from his waistband, slashing a cable for the in-car camera. Then he wrapped a seat belt around his neck, COPA said.
After about 20 minutes, Ross lowered the window to talk to the boy and found him “lying in a seemingly unconscious state,” according to COPA.
Ross removed the seat belt from the boy’s neck, pulled him from the car and “dropped him onto the pavement” while still cuffed, COPA said. When the boy regained consciousness, another struggle ensued and Ross again placed his fist against the boy’s throat.
When questioned by COPA, Ross “firmly denied” putting his fist against the boy’s throat while the boy was handcuffed, despite the video evidence, according to the oversight agency.
The agency found that Ross “took no accountability for his actions and offered numerous excuses and inconsistent explanations in an attempt to justify his misconduct,” which allegedly included using deadly force against a child in handcuffs.
The oversight agency recommended a suspension for up to a year, but Snelling pushed for the six-month suspension.
In April, the city’s inspector general’s office urged COPA to reopen that case to investigate whether Ross also filed a false report — a fireable offense.
COPA declined, saying its investigators had already recommended significant discipline.