CHICAGO _ The city of Chicago released bodycam footage related to an October incident where former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in a car.
After drinking "several large servings of rum" with a subordinate at a downtown restaurant last fall, then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson sat in his city vehicle for two hours parked illegally at a South Side intersection before police officers arrived and let him drive himself home, the city watchdog reported Thursday.
Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's quarterly report adds details to the incident last fall that led Mayor Lori Lightfoot to fire Johnson.
Johnson and a member of his security detail drank on the night of Oct. 16 at the Ceres Cafe, as has previously been reported. Each had "several large servings of rum," according to Ferguson's report.
Johnson then dropped off the driver at police headquarters, allowing the subordinate to drive away in an assigned city vehicle, according to the report.
Johnson then drove himself toward his home. He arrived at the intersection of 34th Place and Aberdeen Street at 10:39 p.m., and sat at the intersection parked illegally in his vehicle until police arrived at 12:33 a.m., according to the report.
Responding officers called for a supervisor, who arrived at 12:43 a.m. Johnson was allowed to drive himself from the scene at 12:46 a.m., initially heading east on 34th Place, away from his residence, the report states.
With two police cars following him, Johnson eventually can be seen on dashcam video heading west toward his residence around 12:48 a.m. He was seen failing to stop at a stop sign, then making a "slow, wide right turn into the wrong lane, moves into the correct lane and proceeds northbound on South Racine Avenue," the report states.
In addition to driving while impaired, Ferguson's report says Johnson subsequently made two false statements about what happened that night.
While Ferguson's summary Thursday offered new details, the Lightfoot administration has declined to release the more detailed report of the incident.
That's despite the administration's support for an ordinance passed last fall that allows the release of reports from the inspector general in cases that involve a death or may involve a felony and generate a "compelling public interest."
City Hall officials have argued none of Johnson's alleged conduct could have been a felony. Law Department spokeswoman Kathleen Fieweger told the Chicago Tribune that stance had not shifted.
"The mayor has addressed this and there is no change," Fieweger wrote in an email.
