Mar 27, 2007 11:40 am US/Central
Cop In Court On Charges Of Beating Bartender
Officer Anthony Abbate Was Allegedly Caught On Video
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A Chicago Police officer who was allegedly captured on videotape savagely beating a female bartender appeared briefly in court Tuesday.
Prosecutors say video cameras at Jesse's Shortstop Inn Tavern at 5425 W. Belmont Ave. caught Officer Anthony Abbate, 38, a 12-year veteran of the Lincoln Police District, punching and kicking bartender Karolina Obrycka, 24, on Feb.19.
On Tuesday, prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges against Abbate, but charges of felony aggravated battery stand. He has another hearing on April 27.
A clean-shaven Abbate, wearing a charcoal gray suit, appeared before the judge Wednesday for around 30 seconds.
Last week, Obrycka's attorney, Terry Ekl, said the bartender had refused to serve Abbate any more drinks, prompting the attack. Abbate was off duty at the time.
Ekl said Obrycka had been offered money to keep quiet about her story by someone associated with Abbate. Later, Ekl claimed, the owner of the bar was also told that if she did not keep quiet about her story, drugs would be planted in the bar and in Obrycka's vehicle, and that customers at the bar would be harassed.
Ekl said he intends to file a lawsuit within several weeks and that it could name the police department if it's shown that "Abbate was using police powers in making the threat." "If that's the case," he said, "then that will broaden the lawsuit."
Police initially charged Abbate with misdemeanor battery, but the Cook County state's attorney's office later upgraded the charges to felony aggravated battery. Abbate was released from jail on $70,000 bond shortly after his arrest last week.
In a separate case that came to light less than a week after Abbate was charged, four businessmen claimed they were beaten by off-duty officers at the Jefferson Tap and Grille, at 325 N. Jefferson St. in December.
Attorney Sally Saltzberg said one of the businessmen was beaten so severely that he required facial reconstructive surgery, and she said when other bar patrons called 911, uniformed police officers came to the scene, but left after being waved off by the officers who allegedly attacked the patrons.
Saltzberg said that alleged beating was also caught on videotape, but the tape in that case has not been released.
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