CHICAGO _ Chicago police Sgt. John Poulos told investigators he fatally shot 19-year-old Kajuan Raye in the back after the teen twice pointed a gun at him during a foot chase on the South Side.
But police found no gun by Raye or along the approximately two-block route of the chase in spite of extensive searches by dozens of officers that night and the next day in November 2016.
Nearly three months later, a resident raking leaves outside his West Englewood home _ located along the circuitous path taken by Raye _ discovered a silver-and-black semi-automatic handgun under bushes in his small front yard.
The find turned out to be critical evidence in the Civilian Office of Police Accountability's controversial decision clearing Poulos of wrongdoing. While conceding that it was "troubled" by the lengthy passage of time that the gun had gone missing, COPA still concluded it was "likely and reasonable" that Raye had possessed the weapon as he fled on foot.
The ruling marks the second time that Poulos, who is white, has been cleared in a fatal shooting of a black man. In the first shooting, which happened in 2013, an off-duty Poulos thought 28-year-old Rickey Rozelle was armed when he saw him holding a shiny object near his waist, but no weapon was recovered, only a chrome-colored watch.
Poulos had also faced possible firing years ago on departmental charges alleging he concealed both a past arrest while applying to become a cop and his moonlighting as part-owner of a family bar. But in an embarrassment for the department, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2016 that disciplinary case had mysteriously fallen through the cracks for more than a decade. When the department subsequently tried to make up for the mistake by seeking to fire Poulos, the Police Board dismissed the disciplinary charges, citing the yearslong delay.
In addition to the discovery of the gun, COPA's decision relied heavily on the account of Poulos, an officer with credibility issues because of the allegations he lied on his police application. Yet COPA didn't even note in its report Poulos' first fatal shooting three years earlier or the failed attempt to fire him over the alleged lies on his police application.
Some police officials also tried to downplay to COPA the effort that officers took that night to find the gun, but an attorney who represents Raye's family in a pending federal lawsuit characterized the search as "massive."
Indeed, COPA's report said as many as 100 officers took part in a coordinated grid search of the area for more than six hours that night. Police dogs, a truck equipped with a big light and even a helicopter were brought in to help. Fire Department officials used ladders to check out rooftops, and officers raked away leaves. Additional officers came back in the morning to search for more than another five hours.
Michael Oppenheimer, the attorney for Raye's family, questioned how the gun could have been overlooked since the weapon recovered months later was "literally right on the path" of the foot chase outside a house he said had a well-manicured yard.
"It would have been logical that the gun would have been there, and they would have found it right away," he said.
James McKay, Poulos' lawyer, said COPA believed his client's account of what happened "because what he said was corroborated by physical evidence, social media evidence and eyewitness evidence."
McKay also said that no one can claim that the resident who found the gun three months later had "an interest, bias or motive to protect John."
He also attacked Oppenheimer's motives, saying he wants to make money in his lawsuit even though COPA's findings dispute its allegations.
"Good God, when is this witch hunt against innocent police officers going to end?" McKay said.
In the days after Raye's death, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stripped Poulos of his police powers, saying, "I have concerns about this incident."
But following COPA's decision in April, Poulos' police powers have been restored and the 18-year department veteran has returned to active duty assigned to work in the records division, according to a police spokesman.
