A Chicago police officer faces dismissal for allegedly attacking his pregnant girlfriend and abusing her throughout their tumultuous relationship.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability found earlier this year that Officer Jose Moreno should be fired, insisting that his alleged history of domestic violence “should not be tolerated.”
“Most egregiously he strangled [the woman] causing her airway to be obstructed and physically abused her while pregnant, both acts indicating of escalating lethality,” COPA said in the report dated Feb. 26. “Officer Moreno minimized his conduct and did not take accountability for his actions.”
In December 2021, the woman told Chicago police that Moreno had choked her and kicked her in the ribs that October, according to COPA. She also recalled another incident in which he allegedly menaced her with a gun while he was holding one of their children.
She filed an emergency order of protection the next day, and Moreno was arrested and charged in January 2022, COPA said. Court records show the protection order has since been vacated, and the misdemeanor battery case was dropped within months.
Moreno remains on active duty, earning a $97,926 annual salary, according to city records. A police spokesperson said he’s detailed to the alternate response section, a unit staffed by cops with disciplinary issues and those not medically cleared for full duty.
COPA opened its investigation after the woman reported Moreno to police, and she later detailed a pattern of abusive behavior that had allegedly stretched for years.
The woman said Moreno locked her out of their home in the spring of 2021 when she was pregnant, then came outside holding a gun with one hand and their child in the other. She also reported that Moreno punched her in the back around the same time, COPA said.
In July 2021, just four days after she gave birth, she said Moreno “tormented” her and kicked her out of their home. “I’m going to make your life a living hell until you get out of here,” he allegedly said.
At one point, he recorded her crying with one of their kids present as she held a knife, according to the report. She told him she grabbed the weapon “because you’re telling me to kill myself and I’m tired of all this s—.”
The following month, he attacked her when she tried to record another fight, COPA said. At one point, he punched her in the wrist and thigh while trying to get her phone.
During the incident that October that led to his arrest, the couple started arguing and Moreno choked her. “She related it lasted approximately five seconds and she could not breathe,” COPA said.
He then pushed her to the floor and “kicked her near her ribcage,” according to the oversight agency. He eventually took her keys, packed her bags and told her to leave, but she later returned for her children.
Among other sustained allegations, COPA found Moreno punched the woman while she was pregnant, choked her and kicked her.
It wasn’t immediately known whether Police Supt. Larry Snelling agreed with the finding.