A Chicago police officer who fatally shot an apparently armed man in Little Village faces dismissal nearly four years after the encounter.
On Oct. 23, 2020, Marc Nevarez, 25, crashed a silver Ford Focus near West 26th Street and South Ridgeway Avenue and ran from officers who suspected him and his passengers of being involved in a shooting in the area, authorities have said.
Officer Roberto Gomez fired three times at Nevarez as he ran down 26th Street with a revolver in his hand, striking him two times, according to authorities. Nevarez was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had recommended Gomez be fired for use of deadly force without justification and failing to turn on his body-worn camera.
But Interim police Supt. Fred Waller did not agree that the officer used force without justification and proposed a three-day suspension instead for the body camera violation.
On Thursday, police board member Andreas Safakas sided with COPA, ruling to allow a disciplinary hearing on the case “that provides due process to all parties.”
“I am not saying that the Chief Administrator’s recommendation is correct and that the superintendent’s response is incorrect,” Safakas said in the written ruling. “Rather, I am saying that a hearing that provides due process to all parties is necessary to determine whether Officer Gomez violated any of the Chicago Police Department’s Rules of Conduct and, if so, the appropriate disciplinary action.”
Officers that day had responded to reports of shots fired about 12:30 p.m. in the 3700 block of West 26th Street.
In videos of the incident released by COPA, Nevarez can be seen running from the driver’s seat of a Ford Focus that crashed into a utility pole in an alley near 26th and Ridgeway.
A responding officer pulled his police SUV directly behind the Focus as Nevarez — who can be seen holding a gun in his right hand — gets out.
Nevarez can be seen running away from Gomez on 26th Street for a few seconds before the officer fires several shots. Nevarez collapses to the pavement and the officer runs over to place him in handcuffs.
Nevarez was shot several times, and blood was already visible on his clothing by the time he was handcuffed. Gomez was soon joined by several other officers who tried to stop the bleeding.
Police and prosecutors have said that Nevarez, Saul Zaragoza and another unidentified woman were involved in the initial shooting that prompted the police response.