Police mum on video of last year’s post-Pride ATV crash

Chicago Police would not comment on a video showing a police all terrain vehicle colliding with oncoming traffic on Belmont Avenue last year after the Chicago Pride Parade.

The video, taken from a Chicago Police camera pod at the intersection of Belmont Avenue and Clark Street and obtained by Chicago Phoenix through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows pride parade revelers crowding in the streets and sidewalks on Belmont hours after the parade dissolved last June 26.

At about five seconds into the video, people can be seen running in the street and crowding on the sidewalk in the 800 block of West Belmont and at 0:19 (approximately 10:35 p.m. that night) a police ATV with its lights flashing races west on Belmont toward a crowd and collides with a car in the eastbound lane. The police video does not capture the entirety of the collision, but witnesses recall the officer hit the car and was driving in the wrong lane.

In earlier reports, like this one on CBS 2 Chicago, police officials said the car struck the officer and that he was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital with minor injuries. The video sheds new light on what occurred.

Upon colliding with the motorist, the officer was thrown onto the ground, where he was surrounded by the remaining crowds, the video shows. A witness told Chicago Phoenix that the officer removed his firearm and waved it around when the crowds got too close. The officer cannot be seen waving his weapon in the video, although the crowds suddenly back away from him at the one minute mark. Moments later, a man mounts the ATV to turn off the siren and then another ones turns off the flashing lights. People continued to swarm around the scene of the accident.

Chicago Phoenix requested a comment from police about the video, whether or not ATVs will be used this year and if officers have gone through additional crowd control or ATV training, but did not receive a response.

Full disclosure: Publisher Dane Tidwell can be seen in some parts of this video, which occurred prior to the launch of the publication.