Ex-Chicago Cop Who Shot Unarmed Man Got Another Police Job

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL - A former Chicago police officer involved in two fatal shootings worked for the Chicago Heights Park District Police Department after he resigned from the CPD in part because one of the shootings was determined to be "unjustified" by the city's Independent Police Review Authority.

Gildardo Sierra was employed by the Chicago Heights Parks Police Department for a brief time in 2016 and was hired by former Chief Jose Maldonado - who has since been placed on leave for an arrest on charges of DUI, aggravated speeding and carrying a concealed firearm while under the influence of alcohol - a Better Government Association investigation shows.

Sierra resigned from the CPD in 2015, four years after killing an unarmed Flint Farmer by firing three shots in the back. Sierra was also involved in the death of police shooting victim Darius Pinex the same year. The two incidents cost the city about $7.5 million in lawsuits, according to the BGA.

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The controversial cop is the brother-in-law of Maldonado, the former chief of a Park District police force that began just five years ago in Chicago Heights. The creation of a park district police force in these times goes against the trend, as the BGA investigation also shows that several other park districts in Illinois have dropped their police departments in recent years.

Records also show the Chicago Heights parks' department did not arrest anyone during the busy park months of July and August last year and still do not have the authority to write tickets.

Sierra was fired by Maldonado's replacement in Chicago Heights during his probationary period because he "didn't fit in with the department," the new chief said.