Banned Customers Spit On Cop In Niles: Police

NILES, IL — A shoplifting report ended up with a an off-duty Chicago Police Department officer spit on by a group of apparent teens in a parking lot confrontation in Niles, police said.

It began when Niles police received a report of a possible shoplifter in the Dick's Sporting Goods at Village Crossing, 5601 Touhy Ave., around 11:15 a.m. on March 21.

The store manager told police he recognized two people who had been walking through the store and acting suspiciously as the same pair he had banned from the store recently. The manager said he walked over to the two, who appeared to be in their late teens, and asked one to put down the merchandise he was holding, to take off the Cubs shirt from the store he had put on and to leave the store, police said.

At that point, a witness—who happened to be an off-duty CPD officer—noticed the commotion. He approached the scene and stood by manager as he took back the goods, but the two banned men started knocking things over, witnesses told police.

They toppled a display mannequin and a clothes rack. In response, the manager called the police.

The two tried to leave after the manager announced he was calling the police, and then the CPD officer announced he was police and followed them outside in order to bring them back in, according to Niles police.

But once he was outside, several more people exited a minivan and surrounded the off-duty officer. Again, the Chicago cop told them he was a sworn law enforcement officer. He displayed his badge and the holstered gun on his waist, he told responding Niles police.

It was then that one of the surrounding offenders spit on the cop three times, according to the report.

The manager was attempting to take pictures with his phone to identify the group of attackers, but one of the attackers knocked it away and threw it on the ground. The group ran away, got back in the minivan and feld the area, police said.

When police arrived, a Niles officer was flagged down by the store manager. He told police the attackers had fled northbound out of the lot toward Touhy. Officers searched the area but did not find anyone. The manager told police he would turn over video of the incident. The incident remains under investigation, Niles police said.