By Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Chicago police officers had a man stopped in the Fernwood neighborhood Wednesday morning when a woman pulled up and demanded officers let him go because “the man they had pulled over was someone she knew,” police said.
But police say what began as a bizarre demand quickly and inexplicably escalated into an attack that left three officers injured when the woman reportedly began ramming police squad cars with her 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, according to officials.
The attack happened just before 11 a.m. in the 10500 block of South State Street in Fernwood, said Kellie Bartoli, a police spokeswoman. The officers were injured after the driver slowed near the traffic stop of a 2019 Kia sedan, imploring officers to let the man go.
The officers responded by telling the woman who was driving “the Jeep Wrangler to leave the area because she was obstructing traffic,” Bartoli wrote in an email.
“She then drove her 2020 Wrangler into a police squad car sideswiping it and attempted to run over an officer. The female driver then made a U-turn in the middle of the street and struck another police vehicle (from) which an officer was exiting,” Bartoli said.
Authorities did not say what types of injuries the officers suffered, but said three officers were treated at area hospitals for injuries not considered life-threatening and that all three had most recently been listed in good condition. Three squad cars sustained damage, the extent of which was not released.
Police said the woman in the Jeep escaped in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Hours later, about 4:30 p.m., in the 5700 block of South Elizabeth Street in Englewood, the same woman “was observed driving the vehicle that had been used” when she hit the squad cars and injured the officers, Bartoli said.
Dawn Moore, 30, of the 7100 block of South Cyril Avenue, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault of a peace officer, aggravated battery of a peace officer and criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000, Bartoli said.
Asked the reason for the initial traffic stop on the man and the outcome of his interaction with authorities, Bartoli said he had been pulled over on suspicion of a minor traffic violation.
“No citations were issued,” she said.
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