Three days after he was acquitted of beating two men in a tavern in December, Officer Robert Rialmo was involved in another physical altercation after he was asked to leave a Northwest Side bar early Friday morning, Chicago police said.
Rialmo’s lawyer, however, said the officer did not throw any punches in a confrontation sparked by men who recognized and accosted him as he was relaxing after work.
Investigators were told that Rialmo — who also killed two people in a controversial on-duty shooting in late 2015 — was at Teaser’s Public House in the 7100 block of West Higgins Avenue when an argument occurred and someone spilled beer on the officer, said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. There was an altercation of some kind, and Rialmo was asked to leave by security personnel, Guglielmi said.
Later, outside a nearby restaurant around 3:40 a.m., the confrontation escalated, Guglielmi said. Shoving took place, Guglielmi said, but he could not say if any punches were thrown. Police have video shot by one of the people involved, Guglielmi said.
No one was arrested or charged, and all those involved went to the Jefferson Park District police station, where they were cooperative, Guglielmi said. Rialmo underwent breath testing after the incident and registered a blood-alcohol content of zero, Guglielmi said, but he could not say what time the test was administered.
Police Internal Affairs officers are investigating whether a crime was committed. The city’s police disciplinary agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, is also investigating, Guglielmi said. Rialmo remains on paid desk duty.
The alleged altercation came three days after Cook County Judge Daniel Gallagher acquitted Rialmo of two counts of misdemeanor battery stemming from the fight captured on video in a Northwest Side bar in December. Rialmo had taken the stand to contend he punched the men in self-defense and defense of his property after one tried to take his jacket near closing time. The judge sided with Rialmo.
On Friday, Rialmo’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, said the officer got off work about 1 a.m. and went to the tavern. Two men recognized and harassed him, and one threw beer on him, Brodsky said. Outside, the men shouted at him, and one started video-recording him, the attorney said. Rialmo told the man to stop filming.
At some point, one of the men charged at Rialmo, Brodsky said, and the officer “swiped him to the side.” The officer did not throw any punches, the attorney said. Rialmo called 911, the attorney said.
Brodsky said Rialmo asked him, “What am I gonna do? Am I on lockdown?”
“I told him, ‘Unfortunately, you’re in the public eye now. There’s people out there that feel they have the right to abuse you and you gotta just stay out of situations where that could possibly happen.’”
Even as COPA investigates the new altercation, the agency is still investigating the December fight. Rialmo already faces potential firing by the Chicago Police Board for the 2015 fatal, on-duty shooting of bat-wielding 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and bystander Bettie Jones, 55.
Less than a month ago, Rialmo was the focus of a civil trial over lawsuits stemming from the shooting. Jurors unanimously voted to award LeGrier’s family just over $1 million but contradicted their verdict by ruling that Rialmo reasonably believed he had to fire to protect himself from the teen as he approached officers with a baseball bat. The judge negated the verdict, but lawyers for the LeGrier family have said they plan to challenge the ruling. The jury foreman has said the panel had intended to award the $1 million to the family.
Rialmo also accidentally shot Jones while firing at LeGrier, but the city avoided trial with her family by reaching a proposed $16 million settlement.
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