New Details Emerge In Shooting That Left Off-Duty Cop Paralyzed

CHICAGO — A Cook County judge ordered three men accused of passing a gun between them and shooting an off-duty Chicago police officer who is now paralyzed below the waist early Saturday morning in Beverly, to be held without bail.

Bryant Hayes, 22, of Chicago, Justen Krismantis, 22, of Chebanse, IL, and Demitrius Harrell, 28, of Chicago Ridge, appeared Tuesday before Judge Charles Beach at the Leighton Criminal Courts building on assorted felony gun charges. Hayes and Krismantis are also charged with attempted murder.

According to the complaint, surveillance video captured the three arriving in two separate vehicles and parking them on a residential street near 104th Street and Artesian Avenue in the early morning hours of July 9. Krismantis was driving a dark-colored Jeep with Harrell as a passenger. Hayes was driving a Mercedes.

>>> 3 Men Charged In Shooting Of Off-Duty Chicago Cop In Beverly Bar: CPD

Krismantis, Hayes and Harrell walked to Brewbakers Bar, 10350 S. Western Avenue. After spending a few minutes at Brewbakers, surveillance video showed the three walking a few doors down and entering Sean’s Rhino Bar and Grill at 2:23 a.m., the prosecutor said.

Dan Golden, 32, an off-duty Chicago police officer, and another person who was also wounded in the shooting were inside the crowded bar talking to family and friends. The prosecutor said a verbal argument erupted a few minutes later between Krismantis, Hayes and Harrell and other patrons. The argument turned into a fight, which lasted about a minute before spilling out on to Western Avenue.

The off-duty Chicago police officer, who prosecutor said was not part of the verbal or physical altercation, was seen exiting the bar after the three men went outside. Surveillance video showed Hayes in the middle of the street, with a number of other people approaching him, the prosecutor said. Hayes ran south on Western, with a few other people chasing him. Several people were trying to break up the fight, including Golden, who was restraining another person from going after Hayes.

Several bar patrons began chasing Krismantis and Hayes, who eventually ran down 104th Street, and through a parking lot toward Artesian, as shown on surveillance video. Harrell ran in the same direction, but appeared to be separated from his two pals. The prosecutor said Golden could be seen walking alongside Harrell in the same direction, but they were neither fighting nor arguing.

When the three men reached the area near 104th and Artesian, the prosecutor said a witness tried to stop Hayes from leaving, believing that Hayes knocked someone unconscious on Western Avenue. The witness tackled Hayes and both were wrestling on the ground, according to the complaint, before the witness stopped struggling with Hayes.

The prosecutor said a few other people could also be seen at 104th and Artesian. Surveillance video showed Krismantis, who was overheard saying, "I’m going to my car," run to his Jeep. Witnesses interpreted the comment to mean that Krismantis was going to get a weapon, the prosecutor said.

Surveillance video showed Krismantis running down the street to his vehicle, and then cross over to the passenger side. The prosecutor said Krismantis opened the passenger door and could be seen bending down and reaching into the Jeep.

Hayes could also be seen on surveillance video walking in the street, holding his jacket. Nobody was fighting with Hayes, nor approaching him, the prosecutor said. Hayes met up with Krismantis, when he returned from his vehicle. Harrell was standing in the street. None of the three men were fighting with anybody, and the others, including Golden and the bar patrons, were starting to walk away, the prosecutor said.

According to the complaint, Krismantis gave the gun to Hayes. The prosecutor said Hayes pointed the gun in the direction of Golden and the others as they were walking away. Hayes fired the automatic weapon, in bursts of several bullets at a time, at Golden, the other victim and the bar patrons, the prosecutor said.

Police said they recovered a total of 19 spent 40-caliber shell casings at the scene, where Hayes was seen firing the gun. Golden was shot in the middle of his back. The second person suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. The prosecutor said that after Hayes fired the shots, Hayes and Krismantis ran back to their vehicles.

Home security video showed Harrell walking in the street toward Krismantis and Hayes, according to prosecutors. Hayes passed the gun to Harrell, who the prosecutor said then fired three more shots directly at Golden and the other witnesses down the block. Police claim to have recovered three spent .40-caliber shells cases near where Harrell was seen firing the gun.

Harrell, Krismantis and Hayes each got into their respective vehicles and fled, the prosecutor said.

Golden was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he remains hospitalized. Doctors said the bullet that struck the off-duty CPD officer entered the right posterior back, went through the spine and two vertebrate, and through the lung to the posterior wall of the aorta. The bullet is lodged in the left chest and cannot be removed since it is located near his heart and lung. Doctors said the officer is paralyzed from the mid-abdomen down, which may be permanent.

Chicago police were able to track the vehicles used, which led to the three men. Police placed Hayes under surveillance Saturday evening, and saw him leave a residence in Forest Park, where he walked over to a Mercedes. Officers said they saw Hayes take an object out of his waistband and toss it on the driver’s side floorboard of his car. Believing the object to be a gun, officers approached Hayes, who they said broke into a run. Hayes was ultimately detained. Officers said they found a .40-caliber Ruger firearm with loaded a 30-round extended magazine in the Mercedes.

Krismantis was taken into the custody the same evening in Oak Lawn. Harrell was picked up Monday afternoon coming out of a residence in Chicago Ridge, the complaint said.

According to police, Harrell admitted to being in the area where the shooting took place with Hayes and Krismantis. Harrell allegedly told police that Hayes fired the gun first, and that the gun had a green laser sight. Harrell met up with Hayes, and the prosecutor said Harrell grabbed the gun from him. Harrell reportedly told police that the gun went off when he was taking it from Hayes.

The prosecutor said Harrell’s explanation did not match neighborhood home security video, which showed Harrell walking toward Golden and the other patrons, and firing the gun in their direction. Harrell said it was only later that he learned Krismantis went to get the gun from the Jeep when he gave it to Hayes, the prosecutor said.

After they fled, the prosecutor said the three men discussed the shooting over a group text recovered by Chicago police. The prosecutor said messages corroborated Krismantis grabbing the gun from his vehicle. The three also allegedly joked about the shooting afterward, stating, “Let’s get drunk this weekend and start a bar fight,” and “The sh*t was fun they beat my ass too.”

The prosecutor told the judge that Krismantis pleaded guilty last September to misdemeanor domestic battery in Kankakee. He was given a diversion sentence and is due back in court there on Aug. 31.

Hayes is currently on supervision for misdemeanor fleeing and eluding police out of Maywood.

Harrell was convicted of residential burglary in 2014, to which he violated probation and was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He served three years in the department of corrections for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in 2018.

Harrell also has a federal conviction for bank robbery. He was sentenced to 46 months in September 2018. Harrell was released on parole in March, and his sentence is expected to expire in March 2024, according to court records.