Off-Duty Bar Fight Video Released Of Cop Who Shot LeGrier, Jones

CHICAGO, IL — A surveillance video has been released of a Chicago cop involved in an off-duty bar fight. Officer Robert Rialmo shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55, in a separate case in 2015. Rialmo, who was already on desk duty for the shootings, was charged with battery and theft after the bar fight, which happened in December.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released the video Wednesday, which shows the off-duty officer punching two men and knocking them to the floor. The fight happened at Moretti's Ristorante & Pizzeria on the far Northwest Side around 2:45 a.m. Dec. 17.

Rialmo was charged Monday with two counts of battery and one count of theft, as he allegedly stole the jacket of one of the men he got into a fight with.

Rialmo's attorney argued the video's release would jeopardize his client's right to a fair trial, but a Cook County judge blocked the bid earlier Wednesday.

In late December, The Civilian Office of Accountability ruled that Rialmo unjustifiably shot LeGrier and Jones.

Rialmo was called to a home in West Garfield Park on Dec. 26, 2015, when LeGrier walked outside of the home with a baseball bat, police said. Rialmo killed LeGrier, and the officer's gunfire also struck and killed Jones, a grandmother and mother of five.

The Jones and LeGrier families filed wrongful death civil lawsuits against the City of Chicago in January of 2016. Rialmo filed a a $10 million counterclaim in February of 2016, claiming he opened fired because LeGrier was coming at him with a bat and that he did not see Jones.

The Chicago Police Department placed Rialmo on desk duty while it conducts a formal review of the shootings.

Main image via YouTube