A white Chicago Police officer who physically assaulted a Black woman walking her dog along the city’s lakefront in August 2021 has resigned from the department, per the Chicago Tribune.
Officer Bruce Dyker, who was recorded on a cell phone putting his hands on Nikkita Brown at North Avenue Beach in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, turned in his badge in May, a spokesperson for the department told the outlet.
At the time of Dyker’s resignation, the spokesperson told the Tribune, CPD had yet to declare any formal action to discipline the officer — nearly nine months after the incident. Dyker was reportedly placed on paid desk duty after the altercation by David Brown, the department superintendent.
John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the outlet that Dyker displayed inappropriate conduct and resigned due to public scrutiny amid ongoing investigations.
In the viral video, taken shortly after midnight the morning of August 28, 2021, Brown can be heard screaming for help as she struggles with Dyker, who is seen grabbing and shoving her, as previously reported by theGrio.
The woman’s attorney, Keenan Saulter, told ABC 7 Chicago that the altercation began after Dyker asked Brown to leave the beach because it was closed.
In body camera footage reviewed by the Tribune, Dyker is heard exclaiming: “Get out of the park. What do you not understand about that? The park is closed. You are trespassing on city property, and you will go to jail if you don’t take your dog and leave.”
“I feel threatened,” Brown tells the officer, who responds: “Good. I’m about to put handcuffs on you if you don’t keep walking. Do you want to test me on this.”
Brown claimed there were other people walking on the beach but she was the only one targeted. She said she believes that she was being racially profiled, per ABC 7.
“For some reason, this officer decided to specifically interact, and then ultimately address and attack Ms. Brown,” Saulter told the outlet.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said following the incident that she was “deeply concerned” about Dyker’s conduct, which The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) investigated through October 2021, the Tribune reported.
COPA has not yet publicized the results of their probe, but alerted Brown of their findings, per the outlet.
In total, 24 misconduct allegations were lodged against Dyker during his 23 years as a Chicago Police officer, and three of the incidents were sustained following investigations, per data reported by the Invisible Institute.
theGrio’s Ny Magee contributed to this report.
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