A former Chicago police sergeant will be allowed to return to his Florida home after being charged with aggravated battery in connection with a beating last year outside an Andersonville bar.
“It sort of shocks the conscience,” said Judge John F. Lyke Jr., who set bail for Eric Elkins at $250,000, with electronic monitoring.
Elkins, 45, was off-duty with friends at the @tmosphere Bar in Andersonville on Sept. 29 when he was allegedly beat two men so badly that they were hospitalized, authorities said. Two men, John Sherwood and his partner, Tom Stacha, later filed a lawsuit against Elkins and his companions.
Elkins’ next court date is May 13. He resigned in January amid internal investigations into the Andersonville beating and an accusation of criminal sexual conduct involving a teenager at a 2015 family gathering in Michigan. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges, avoiding prison and having to register as a sex offender, and was sentenced to probation, community service and substance abuse treatment.
For the bar beating, Elkins, who the police say now lives in Fort Lauderdale, has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Another man, Giovanni Rodriguez, 34, a North Side resident, faces the same charges and also aggravated battery in a public place. His bail was set at $50,000.
Rodriguez is accused of beating three victims, according to police.
Elkins and Rodriguez turned themselves in on Monday, police said.
Bail for Elkins was set at $250,000 with electronic monitoring and his next court date was set for May 13. He will be allowed to return to his new home in Florida while out on bail.
PAST COVERAGE
• Chicago cop’s pension sweetened while under investigation for molesting teenager, Feb. 24, 2019
• Chicago cop resigns amid investigations of sex crime against teen boy, bar fight, Feb. 4, 2019
• ‘His eyes were just crazy’: Man describes alleged beating by off-duty cop, Nov. 2, 2018
• Chicago cop, accused of sex crimes against teenage boys, never been disciplined, Oct. 28, 2018
