Man who harassed woman in Puerto Rican T-shirt now facing hate crime charges
Man who harassed woman in Puerto Rican T-shirt now facing hate crime charges originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The man caught on video making racist comments to a woman wearing a Puerto Rican flag T-shirt is now facing additional hate crime charges.
Timothy Trybus already faced a simple assault charge over the June 14 incident but a spokesperson for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced that Trybus will be in court for a bond hearing over two counts of a felony hate crime charges on Friday July 12.
Trybus was originally released on bond over the initial simple assault charge from the June 14 incident in a Chicago area park, and he was scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 1 for that charge. Court records indicate that he has been appointed a public defender, who has not been named. ABC News has been unable to reach Trybus.
The new charges come the day after it was announced that the officer who saw the scene unfold resigned from his post.
Patrick Conner quit the police department of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, according to a statement from the department.
Prior to his resignation, Conner had been placed on desk duty in the wake of the June 14 harassment incident.
Mia Irizarry posted a Facebook video of the alleged incident, appearing to show a man, later identified by the department as
Timothy Tybus, approaching her and criticizing her T-shirt, which is designed with the Puerto Rican flag.
"You should not be wearing that in the United States of America," the man can be heard saying to her on a video she posted on Facebook. "Are you a citizen?"
Later in the video, Irizarry is shown asking a nearby Cook County Forest Preserve District police officer, later identified as Conner, for help in getting the man away from her. The video shows the officer appearing not to move any closer to the pair or do anything to actively end the situation.
"As you can see the police are not even -- he's not even grabbing him.
Like this guy is just walking up to me. He basically got in my face, damn near almost touched me," Irizarry is heard saying to the camera during the incident.
Earlier this week, the parks department confirmed that
Trybus was charged with simple assault and that the investigation into the incident was ongoing.
"If the investigation confirms the officer did not take appropriate steps to ensure public safety, disciplinary action will be swift,” Forest Preserves spokeswoman Stacina Stagner told ABC News via email earlier this week. “At the same time, this video will help inform ongoing officer training so we can all learn from this unfortunate episode.”
In the statement released by the department on Wednesday, they noted that Conner's resignation "isn't where our work ends."
"We are further addressing aspects of this incident," the statement reads.
As for Trybus, he was released on bond and has a court appearance scheduled on Aug. 1. Court records indicate that he has been appointed a public defender, who has not been named. ABC News has been unable to reach Trybus.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by oyarde
Connect With Us