Chicago Man Charged After Firefighter Strikes Him With Halligan Tool

Overview

• Police say the confrontation happened outside a Grand Crossing church on Sunday and that officers arrested 32-year-old Lamar Brown on felony counts including aggravated battery and aggravated assault on a firefighter or peace officer.
• A widely shared bystander cellphone video shows a Chicago firefighter swing a halligan tool, a long metal forcible-entry bar used by crews, striking a barefoot, shirtless man and knocking him unconscious.
• Accounts differ about the police officer’s actions during the incident with one report saying the officer fired a stun gun to no avail and another saying the officer only pointed a Taser at the man.
• Paramedics took both the struck man and the firefighter to hospitals, police said the man was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital in good condition, and Brown was due for a detention hearing in Cook County court.
• A police affairs consultant quoted by local outlets called the firefighter’s action legally defensible as similar to a private citizen’s use of force, and the circulating video has prompted public scrutiny that could prompt internal or legal reviews.