Man Shot By Police After Attempting To Run Down Officers Charged
(STMW) -- A West Side man has been charged for allegedly trying to run over a police officer, who shot him through the windshield of a van Saturday morning.
Roosevelt Hartman, 26, of the 100 block of North Laramie Avenue, was charged with one count each of felony attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery to a peace officer and possession of a controlled substance, police said.
Hartman is accused of attempting to run over a Chicago police officer, who shot him through the front windshield.
About 11:30 a.m. Saturday, four Harrison District tactical unit officers were on patrol in the area of the 3900 block of West Chicago Avenue, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said.
The area, near the corner of Chicago and Springfield avenues, is "a known narcotics corner," Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said.
The officers saw a group of men on the corner conduct a "hand-to-hand narcotics exchange," according to a police statement.
One of the men, Hartman, looked in the direction of the officers and fled on foot to a vacant lot adjacent to the corner, police said. The officers got out of their car and ran toward him, ordering him to stop.
Hartman did not stop, but instead ran into a nearby alley, pursued by the officers, and jumped into a van, locking its doors, police said.
With the officers outside the van telling him to get out, Hartman started shifting the van back and forth, in an attempt to hit the officers, police said.
The officers "continually" told Hartman to stop the van and get out. He would not stop, and instead put the van into drive, trying to pin one of the officers between a squad car that had parked in the alley to block his exit, and the front bumper of the van, police said.
The officer had nowhere to go without getting hit by the van, so he jumped up, onto the front of the van, and fired three shots into the van, striking the driver, Camden said.
Hartman was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition, according to the statement form police.
The officer was taken to the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, with cuts and bruises, Mirabelli said.
Police recovered narcotics from the van, Mirabelli said. Camden said these drugs were 10 rocks or bags of cocaine.
The Independent Police Review Authority., which investigates all police-involved shootings, is investigating.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
