Sun-Times file photo
The Chicago Police Board has voted to clear a veteran police officer accused of lying to investigators after video surfaced that appeared to show the officer punching a handcuffed man at a South Side Hospital nearly seven years ago.
In a 5-3 vote during their monthly meeting Thursday, the board passed a motion declaring Officer Clauzell Gause not guilty of making a false statement regarding his use of force and to restore him to his position.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended Gause be fired last year for allegedly lying to investigators about the incident. He had also been hit with felony misconduct charges, but those were dropped by the Cook County state’ attorney’s office in 2019.
The confrontation happened June 3, 2014, when then-24-year-old Rayshon Gartley was taken to Jackson Park Hospital for a mental health evaluation. Prosecutors said Gause was seen on surveillance footage punching and shoving Gartley, who was restrained and handcuffed at the hospital.
Gause omitted from a report that Gartley was handcuffed when he punched him, according to a document outlining the charges. Gause also told COPA investigators in an interview that he didn’t make contact with Gartley’s face or head, the document states.
But hospital surveillance video allegedly captured Gause, who was in uniform, holding Gartley’s arms behind his back and shoving him against a wall, causing him to bounce back toward the officer, prosecutors said. Gause then appeared to punch Gartley in the face with a closed fist.
CDC: Younger adults 18-49 account for one-third of COVID-19 hospitalizations in US
By Chris Williams article
Intensive Care Unit nurses Subramanya Kirugulige (L) and Alma Abad help a newly arriving 81-year-old African American COVID-19 patient get settled into the ICU ward at Roseland Community Hospital on December 14, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by S
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Amid easing mask guidance for vaccinated Americans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s all the more reason for younger adults to get inoculated given that the demographic accounts for about one-third of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Some hospitals say they’re even seeing an uptick in COVID-19 patients between 18 and 49 years old.