Chicago taxpayers paid $100,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the family of a Park Ridge teen who was pinned to a sidewalk by an off-duty Chicago police sergeant more than three years ago, an incident that was captured on a video that went viral, records show.
Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Vitellaro was acquitted by a Cook County judge on felony charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct in connection with the incident that began when his son told him on July 1, 2022, that his bicycle had been stolen from outside the Park Ridge Public Library.
Vitellaro, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, located the bicycle outside a coffee shop, and forced the teen he saw with the bicycle down to the pavement and pinned him there. The teen testified during Vitellaro’s trial that he thought he was going to die…