CHICAGO _ The woman who sources say was out drinking with then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson the night he was found asleep in his vehicle has been accused of tampering with evidence amid the city watchdog's investigation into the incident, the Chicago Tribune has learned.
The woman _ a Chicago police officer on Johnson's security detail at the time of the October incident _ was accused of removing a SIM card from a cellphone that had been sought as evidence by the office of city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, according to a document obtained by the Tribune. SIM cards store the data on cellphones.
The document obtained by the Tribune through an open-records request indicated a sergeant in the bureau where the officer is now assigned filed a complaint making the allegation against her.
Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said the officer was transferred from the security detail on Oct. 20, three days after officers found Johnson asleep in a running vehicle near his South Side home after a late weeknight out. He could not elaborate on why she was transferred.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired the superintendent Monday, saying she had concluded after reviewing the inspector general's findings and video-recorded evidence that Johnson had lied to her and the public about his conduct that night.
Johnson initially blamed his behavior on a change in medication but later privately admitted to Lightfoot that he had a couple of drinks that night.
Sources have told the Tribune that Ferguson's office obtained video footage showing the superintendent drinking for a few hours on the evening of Oct. 16 with a woman who was not his wife at Ceres Cafe, a popular restaurant and bar in the Chicago Board of Trade building known for its stiff drinks. One of the sources said the two were seen kissing on restaurant video.
The female officer was a member of Johnson's security detail at the time of the incident, sources said.
Later that night, officers responding to a 911 call about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 17 near Johnson's home in the Bridgeport neighborhood rapped on an SUV's window, waking Johnson, a source said. Johnson rolled the window down partway and flashed his police identification, the source said. Officers asked if he was able to drive home, the source said, and Johnson pulled away after responding yes.
In a statement issued Tuesday by his lawyer, Johnson denied he intentionally lied to the mayor or the public but admitted that he made "a poor decision and had a lapse of judgment" on the night in question.
"That was a mistake and I know that," the statement quoted Johnson as saying. "I have no interest in fighting a battle for my reputation with those that want to question it now."
