ABC News(CHICAGO) — The police officer who appeared to stand by and do nothing as a man harassed a woman wearing a Puerto Rican T-shirt in a Chicago park has resigned.
Patrick Conner quit the police department of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, according to a statement from the department.
Prior to his resignation, Conner had been placed on desk duty in the wake of the June 14 harassment incident.
Mia Irizarry posted a Facebook video of the alleged incident, appearing to show a man, later identified by the department as Timothy Tybus, approaching her and criticizing her T-shirt, which is designed with the Puerto Rican flag.
“You should not be wearing that in the United States of America,” the man can be heard saying to her on a video she posted on Facebook. “Are you a citizen?”
Later in the video, Irizarry is shown asking a nearby Cook County Forest Preserve District police officer, later identified as Conner, for help in getting the man away from her. The video shows the officer appearing not to move any closer to the pair or do anything to actively end the situation.
“As you can see the police are not even — he’s not even grabbing him. Like this guy is just walking up to me. He basically got in my face, damn near almost touched me,” Irizarry is heard saying to the camera during the incident.
Earlier this week, the parks department confirmed that Trybus was charged with simple assault and that the investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“If the investigation confirms the officer did not take appropriate steps to ensure public safety, disciplinary action will be swift,” Forest Preserves spokeswoman Stacina Stagner told ABC News via email earlier this week. “At the same time, this video will help inform ongoing officer training so we can all learn from this unfortunate episode.”
In the statement released by the department on Wednesday, they noted that Conner’s resignation “isn’t where our work ends.”
“We are further addressing aspects of this incident,” the statement reads.
As for Trybus, he was released on bond and has a court appearance scheduled on Aug. 1. Court records indicate that he has been appointed a public defender, who has not been named. ABC News has been unable to reach Trybus.
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