A Chicago police officer who fatally shot a baseball bat-wielding college student and accidentally killed his neighbor in December did not initially tell investigators that the teen had swung the bat at his head, police reports obtained by the Tribune show.
It wasn’t until Officer Robert Rialmo was re-interviewed two days after the Dec. 26 shooting that he first alleged 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier had twice tried to hit him with the aluminum bat – once with a downward swing and again with a backward swipe — before the officer opened fire, according to a detective’s supplemental report.
In an earlier statement the morning of the shooting, Rialmo had said only that LeGrier had the bat raised over his head and refused commands to drop it.
Basileios Foutris, who represents LeGrier’s father, Antonio, in a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer and the city, said the differing statements showed Rialmo was adding details to justify the use of force. Foutris noted that in a counterclaim filed earlier this year against the teen’s estate alleging emotional trauma, Rialmo gave an even more vivid account of the alleged attack, describing how he felt the whoosh of air as the bat passed inches from his head.
“He’s now given three statements about the events of that night, and every time there is a little more detail,” Foutris said. “As time goes on, he’s covering himself more and more.”
But Rialmo’s lawyer, Joel Brodsky, said it’s “not surprising” for police to initially write down a more bare-bones version and then come back later with more details. Brodsky also said Rialmo has told him he believes he did mention the bat swing in the first interview and that the detective taking the report may have just neglected to write it down.
“The second time is when you get all those little details,” Brodsky said.
Brodsky also noted there were many discrepancies in what LeGrier’s father told police in separate interviews — including where he was standing when he heard the shots.
“It’s just the nature of these things,” Brodsky said.
The shooting occurred about 4:30 a.m. the day after Christmas as Rialmo and his partner were responding to calls of a domestic disturbance between LeGrier and his father in their apartment in the 4700 block of West Erie Street.
According to Rialmo’s initial account, which was given to detectives about an hour and a half after the shooting, the neighbor, Bettie Jones, had answered the door and pointed them to an upstairs apartment. As she turned to walk back to her unit, LeGrier emerged from the doorway brandishing a bat over his head, gripped in both hands, according to Rialmo’s account.
Rialmo said he started backing down the stairs and drew his service weapon while ordering LeGrier to drop the bat. In fear of his life, Rialmo fired three or four times, and LeGrier grabbed his chest, uttered an expletive and collapsed. Rialmo said he was standing at the base of the porch stairs by the time he stopped firing. When he returned to the porch he saw Jones, 55, lying on her back with her legs sticking out of the doorway to her apartment into the vestibule.
Rialmo said he then saw LeGrier’s father coming down the stairs and Rialmo yelled to him, “Dad, what the (expletive)?”
Rialmo said LeGrier said several times, “Hey, you did what you had to do,” according to the reports.
At noon on Dec. 28, more than 48 hours after the shooting, Rialmo returned to the Area North police headquarters to “clarify details,” the reports state.
In the second statement, Rialmo said he “heard someone charging down the stairs from the second floor” and then saw LeGrier step between him and Jones in the vestibule.
Rialmo said LeGrier was advancing with the bat raised above his head before swinging the bat “with an overhand downward swing and then a half backwards swing,” the report said.
Rialmos’ partner, Anthony La Palermo, also gave two statements to investigators, records show. In both interviews, he said he was looking down at the steps as he stood behind Rialmo and never saw LeGrier swing the bat.
LeGrier was shot on the left side of his chest, the lower left side of his back, the right buttock and the left arm and suffered graze wounds to his chest and right shoulder, according to LeGrier’s autopsy report. Jones died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, Cook County medical examiner records show.
Rialmo’s accounts contrast with that given in the lawsuits brought by the LeGrier and Jones families.
Twitter @jmetr22b
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