After finding then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson asleep in a city SUV following his consumption of “several large servings of rum,” Chicago police trailed their boss home as he ran a stop sign and briefly drove in the wrong lane, the city watchdog reported Thursday.
Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s quarterly report gave a fuller account of the incident last fall that led Mayor Lori Lightfoot to fire Johnson, and it raised the possibility of discipline for other officers. Among other allegations, the report says another cop — Johnson’s driver — also drove home in a city vehicle after drinking with the superintendent that night.
The new account was unflattering both to Johnson and the department, as it indicated the former top cop might have gotten a pass from other officers on a force repeatedly accused of covering up misconduct. Ferguson’s summary also could ratchet up pressure on Lightfoot to release the fuller report on the incident, which so far she has declined to do.
Discipline could be coming, as Ferguson’s summary said he’d delivered reports on the conduct of other cops. Ferguson wrote that those reports address the actions of the other officer who allegedly drove after drinking, as well as “the CPD member response” to the call that led to police finding Johnson asleep in his SUV.
The Police Department’s response to those reports is due by the end of July. Police spokesman Luis Agostini said in an email that, “The department will take any necessary disciplinary measures upon their complete review of that report.”
Neither Johnson nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.
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On the night of Oct. 16, 2019, Johnson and his driver drank at Ceres Cafe in the Loop, according to details previously reported and Ferguson’s summary of events. Ferguson reported that both drank rum at the bar famous for its generous pours.
Ferguson’s report does not say when they left the bar. But he wrote that Johnson drove, and around 10:30 p.m. he dropped her off at police headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood. The inspector general reported that she drove away in her city vehicle.
Johnson then drove toward his home. Security footage showed he parked illegally at 34th Place and Aberdeen Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood at 10:39 p.m., Ferguson wrote. He remained there with the SUV running until a member of the public called 911 to report someone asleep in a vehicle and officers arrived at 12:33 a.m, according to the report.
Previously released body camera footage shows that officers found Johnson slumped in his seat.
Ferguson wrote that a Chicago Fire Department member also came to the scene, approached the SUV and asked what was going on before stopping abruptly and walking away.
The body camera footage showed that Johnson appeared to have put his police credentials against the window, Ferguson wrote. The officer asked his boss, “You just sitting here, or do you wanna go home?”
“I’m good,” Johnson replied. The officer responded, “You good? Alright, sir, have a good night.”
The officers did not perform any sobriety tests on Johnson, Ferguson wrote.
Other police vehicles came to the scene, and an officer called for a supervisor, who arrived about 12:43 a.m., Ferguson wrote. Johnson was allowed to drive off at 12:46 a.m., initially heading away from his home, with the supervisor following him, the report states.
At nearly the same time, an officer coded the stop to indicate that no police action had been needed, Ferguson wrote.
Dashboard camera video showed that two police vehicles followed Johnson as he failed to halt at a stop sign and then made a “slow, wide right turn into the wrong lane” before correcting himself, Ferguson wrote. GPS location data showed that two police vehicles ended up in “the area of the superintendent’s residence,” according to the report.
Ferguson accused Johnson of making false statements during a news conference the next day when he said he was out for dinner with a group of friends before his encounter with police and that he’d ordered an internal investigation. The report also notes that Johnson failed to acknowledge he’d been drinking and instead blamed a medication mix-up.
While he acknowledged to Lightfoot that he had drinks, he also repeated to the mayor his contention about the medication mishap and said he’d directed officers to initiate a complaint against him, Ferguson wrote.
Citing the inspector general, Lightfoot removed Johnson as superintendent in early December. He dropped back to the rank of lieutenant and then resigned. He brings in a pension of about $190,000 yearly.
While Ferguson’s summary Thursday offered new information, the Lightfoot administration has declined to release the more detailed report of the incident despite pressure from media outlets and some aldermen.
Lightfoot ran for mayor on her credentials as a police reformer and promised transparency. Following her election, Lightfoot’s administration supported an ordinance passed last fall that allows the release of reports from the inspector general in cases that lead to a death or may involve a felony and generate a “compelling public interest.”
But City Hall officials have argued that none of Johnson’s alleged conduct could have been a felony. Law Department spokeswoman Kathleen Fieweger told the Tribune that stance had not shifted.
“The mayor has addressed this and there is no change,” Fieweger wrote in an email on Thursday.
Asked whether the city should release the full report, Ferguson spokeswoman Natalie Kuriata said the new summary “was meant to provide some more context to the investigation completed back in November and the pending investigation responses.”
But, Kuriata added in a statement, the law on releasing the reports “specifies grounds for release and doesn’t grant that ability to” Ferguson.
Chicago Tribune’s Annie Sweeney contributed.
