Two officers accused of lying about the 2010 fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man were cleared of the allegations by the Chicago Police Board on Thursday.
In a 5-3 vote during its monthly meeting at CPD headquarters, the board found officers Michael St. Clair and Armando Ugarte not guilty of making false statements in the shooting of William Hope Jr. on July 8, 2010.
Then-Chicago Police Supt. David Brown filed disciplinary charges with the police board last October accusing the officers of repeatedly lying to officials about the shooting and recommending they be separated from the department.
A federal jury awarded Hope’s family $4.6 million after a lawsuit was filed against the city and the two officers, who were each ordered to pay $10,000 of their own money for punitive damages and participate in a police training scenario based on the case.
That summer afternoon, Ugarte pulled in front of Hope as Hope sat behind the wheel of a Pontiac Grand Am in the parking lot of a Popeye’s restaurant at 111 W. 75th St., according to testimony in the case and the disciplinary charges.
Ugarte and St. Clair said they spotted a roll of money in the center console and a cellphone, testifying that they asked for Hope’s driver’s license and the phone. They claimed Hope tried to drive off once they returned the items.
Ugarte reached through the window to gain control of the car, and St. Clair fired four shots that killed Hope, according to the officers’ account. They claimed Ugarte got stuck in the window and feared for his life and that Hope was using his car as a weapon.
But Brown’s charges alleged that both officers lied to officials and falsely testified in the civil case about where Ugarte was positioned when the shots rang out.
Ugarte falsely claimed he was stuck at the time, with his upper body still in the car, Brown said. St. Clair repeatedly lied in saying that Ugarte remained in the car until after the shooting, Brown said.
Five of the board members — Steven Block, Aja Carr-Favors, Mareilé Cusack, Nanette Doorley and Andreas Safakas — found that Brown did not provide enough evidence that Ugarte and St. Clair lied about Ugarte’s position at Hope’s car before and during the shooting.
Three board members disagreed with the majority’s findings. In their dissent, Ghian Foreman, Paula Wolff and Michael Eaddy argued that there was enough evidence proving the two officers “made willful, materially false statements.”
“We disagree with the majority’s finding that the Superintendent failed to prove Respondents knew their statements were false when they made them,” the three wrote. “We find it difficult to believe that St. Clair would have risked his partner’s life by firing at Hope, knowing Ugarte was still stuck within the vehicle.”
Also on Thursday, the board found officer James Hunt not guilty of using excessive force in a case stemming from a George Floyd protest near 33 W. Kinzie St. on May 30, 2020.
Administrative charges filed with the board alleged Hunt used force without justification against a woman and recommended Hunt be fired.
The woman was driving through a large crowd when Hunt broke her passenger-side window and wrestled her for her phone to stop her from recording video, the charges state.
Hunt also allegedly called the woman a “fat b-----” and failed to get her medical attention, in addition to failing to complete a report of the incident, according to the charges.
The majority of the board found that Brown did not provide enough evidence that Hunt arrested the woman without probable cause and refused to provide her medical attention. They also said Hunt was justified in breaking her window and there was not enough proof that Hunt was the one who took her phone and stopped her from recording.
