When gunfire put a damper on Humboldt Park’s annual Puerto Rican Fest earlier this summer, some Chicago police officers turned their attention to a nearby gathering.
Two responding cops, including a deputy chief, have since been charged with knifing the tires of vehicles that were parked in an alley in the 2600 block of West North Avenue on June 7.
Juventino Cortezano said a pair of three-wheeled motorcycles he owns were damaged as officers tried to clear the area. Cortezano said the officers didn’t give drivers ample opportunity to move, insisting that police “discriminated” against his group of friends because they’re “young Hispanics.”
“They just pretty much got on B.S. with everybody in the area,” Cortezano said of the cops. “And then they just started slashing, not just my vehicle’s [tires], but everyone’s vehicles.'”
Area 5 Deputy Chief Roberto Nieves, 53, and Officer Jacob Gies, 26, have both been charged with misdemeanors for allegedly damaging Cortezano’s property, according to Cook County court records. Gies faces an additional count of allegedly slashing the tires of a similar vehicle owned by Cortezano’s friend.
Police officials sought felony charges against the officers, but they weren’t approved by prosecutors.
“After a thorough review of the information presented to us by police, it was determined that the evidence was insufficient to meet our burden of proof to file felony charges,” according to a spokesperson for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Nieves and Gies have both had their police powers stripped, and Nieves was demoted to captain.
Nieves’ attorney, Tim Grace, said his client “was tasked with a very challenging and dangerous situation when shots were fired after the festival let out.”
Nieves “believed that the vehicles were involved with the shooting and needed to be disabled,” Grace said. “He disabled the vehicles to ensure everybody on the scene was safe and that they could not be used as a weapon against citizens and police officers.”
Cortezano said he paid about $750 to replace five of the tires on his two Polaris Slingshots. He was also ticketed, and the vehicles were impounded, forcing him to cancel reservations he had made to rent them out, he said.
Cortezano had chalked the damage up as a loss until detectives called him a few weeks later and told him they’d uncovered body camera footage of the incident.
“If this footage never got caught on camera, it would have never escalated to this situation,” he said. “There would have been no evidence to show proof that the CPD deputy chief did that.”
Additional cellphone video footage reviewed by the Sun-Times appears to show an officer slashing the tire of one of Cortezano’s vehicles as other cops stand around and sirens wail in the background.
“As a cop, you’re supposed to have the community feel safe,” Cortezano said. “But instead, they’re going against you in this situation. It wasn’t very professional.”
Gies’ attorney, Jim McKay, declined to comment. Grace said he looks forward to arguing Nieves’ case.
Both officers are expected to appear in court for the first time Sept. 19.