Posts Tagged Tom Ryan

CPD and CFD assaulted on-scene

ABC7 has an article about an alleged assault of two CFD paramedics and a CPD officer:

Two paramedics and a Chicago police officer were injured when prosecutors say the man they were called to help assaulted them Tuesday night in the city’s River North neighborhood.

All three … were sent to the hospital. The suspect was sent to court. None of the injuries were life threatening. The paramedics and police officer were released Tuesday night. The suspect, who was treated for injuries as well, was in court Wednesday. Also in court were fellow paramedics and firefighters frustrated by violence first responders sometimes face.

A call for [an] injured man came from this block Tuesday evening on North LaSalle. Two Chicago paramedics responded. They were evaluating him and they say something happened.

“It was an average run and nothing out of the ordinary. It’s almost like flipped a switch and the gentleman became combative and that was the result three people hospitalized,” said Asst. Deputy Chief Jeff Larson, Chicago Fire Department.

The 28-year-old delivery driver from Indiana appeared in court Wednesday. Joseph Zajac is charged with aggravated battery of the paramedics and a Chicago police officer.

Prosecutor said Zajac hit a 63-year-old paramedic and a Chicago police officer who responded to help the paramedics. The second paramedic was injured. Prosecutors say she ended up with a concussion.

“They are sore, they are beaten up. And they’re exhausted at this point. All they want to do is get some rest and be with their family,” said Tom Ryan, president, Chicago Firefighters Union.

The president of the union representing the paramedics says he’s gone to court five times in just two weeks for suspects charged with assaulting paramedics on the job.

“This is insanity, this should never happen, much less with the frequency that it is happening and I hope the citizens of this city are as outraged as we are,” said Ryan.

In the last two years in Cook County, more than sixty people have been charged for assaulting a paramedic.

 

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Charges filed in assault against CFD paramedics

ABC7 has an article about charges being filed against a student that recently assaulted a CFD paramedic:

The ABC7 I-Team has learned that another Chicago Fire Department paramedic has been attacked by someone she was trying to help. This latest case resulted in felony charges filed Monday against a DePaul University student.

This is happening at least once a week in Chicago– paramedics jumped and pummeled–in some cases, by people whose lives they are trying to save. On Monday, fire union officials were at the young man’s court appearance to press for felony charges against him …

“I want everyone to know around the entire country to keep your hands off of our paramedics, our fire fighters and our police officers because they are there to help you. They are called to assist you, not to be your personal punching bag,” said Tom Ryan, president, Firefighters Local #2.

Chicago paramedic Kelly Begley was dispatched to this DePaul student apartment building on November 1. The call was an intoxicated individual who fell and injured his head. After Begley arrived, it was her head that was injured, she says, by the student she was called to treat.

According to Cook County prosecutors, Erik Kawar’s girlfriend called paramedics when he came home drunk, with a head injury from hitting the pavement. Paramedic Begley testified in a Cook County Court that Kawar swore at her and then hit [her] in the face, giving her a black eye, then pushed her into the wall and fell on her. She ended up transported to Illinois Masonic.

“This [is] happening repeatedly, … there have been four other cases and that was only a few weeks ago, it’s happening on a weekly basis and we are not going to put up with it,” said Ryan.

“There are very few things you can count on in this world 100%, when you dial 911 we are there every time. And we do not deserve to be assaulted on the scene.”

The Cook County State’s Attorney says the majority of [these cases] end in a conviction or a guilty plea.

thanks Dan & Dennis

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