CHICAGO – The Chicago police officer who fatally shot 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez after a foot chase in late March is now under investigation for involvement in a road rage incident last week in Chicago, sources said.
A man who appears to be wearing a blue CPD uniform shirt was captured on viral videos — posted last week on Twitter — carrying an unholstered gun outside a car during a confrontation with another motorist at Logan Boulevard and Richmond Street. The story was first reported by Block Club Chicago. Sources confirmed the officer was Evan Solano.
According to the footage, two motorists argued as passersby looked on, including one who told the officer to holster his gun and leave the area.
“Dude, I have no weapon. I did not touch you,” the other motorist can be heard shouting at the officer.
“You threatened me with (a) knife,” the officer replied.
“No, I did not,” the other motorist can be heard saying. “I did not threaten you at all. You pulled a gun on me. I’ve got kids in the car.”
After he holstered his gun, the officer then says to a passerby who is apparently filming the encounter, “Did you not catch him yelling at me the whole time?”
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was notified about the incident and forwarded the case to Chicago police’s Bureau of Internal Affairs, a COPA spokesman said. A CPD spokesman would only say the matter was under investigation.
Solano was already under investigation by COPA for fatally shooting the 22-year-old Alvarez on the Northwest Side during the early morning hours of March 31. Solano’s attorney, Timothy Grace, would not comment on the new video of the traffic confrontation.
On police body-camera footage released by COPA of the Alvarez shooting, officers can be seen running down an alley first, then bearing down on Alvarez as they turn a corner onto a small lawn. Third-party camera footage from a security camera from the home Alvarez was shot in front of shows him release a gun as he falls to the ground, and police have said a gun was found at the scene.
After the shooting, COPA recommended to CPD that Solano be relieved of his police powers while COPA continues its investigation into that incident. But so far, Chicago police officials have not decided whether to act on COPA’s recommendation.
If Solano were to be relieved of his police powers, he wouldn’t be allowed to carry a badge or a service weapon, and he would be assigned to paid desk duty.
