A Chicago police officer is facing felony charges in connection with an on-duty shooting last year at the CTA Red Line’s Grand station.
Officer Melvina Bogard, 32, faces counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct for the Feb. 28, 2020 shooting, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office announced Thursday.
No charges were announced against Officer Bernard Butler, who was with Bogard at the time of the shooting and was recorded by a bystander yelling “shoot him” before Bogard opened fire.
Shortly after 4 p.m. that day, Bogard and Butler tried to arrest 34-year-old Ariel Roman after he was seen walking between cars on a northbound Red Line train.
The officers followed Roman when he got off the train at the station and tried taking Roman into custody at the bottom of a set of stairs leading up to the station’s main concourse.
Roman struggled with Butler and was eventually able to stand up. Video footage showed two deployed stun guns laying on the station’s floor.
As Roman ran up the stairs, Butler repeated yelled for Bogard to fire, the video shows Bogard shot once at Roman when he was feet away from her and then again when he neared the top of the stairs.
Roman was shot in the hip and buttocks, according to his attorneys, who filed a lawsuit against the city and both officers.
Roman was taken into custody after the shooting and briefly faced resisting arrest and narcotics charges, which were later dropped by the state’s attorney’s office.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability submitted the findings from its investigation to Supt. David Brown in October. The Chicago Police Department later moved to fire both officers.
Federal authorities also have opened a criminal investigation into the high-profile police shooting.
Bogard turned herself in on the charges Thursday morning and is expected to appear in court later Thursday, the state’s attorney’s office said.
