A Cook County judge on Friday postponed next week’s trial of a south suburban police officer charged with reckless conduct in the death last year of a 95-year-old World War II veteran.
Associate Judge Luciano Panici, who sits in the suburban Markham courthouse, agreed to the delay after prosecutors asked for more time to prepare for the trial.
Craig Taylor, a Park Forest police officer since 2004, was charged in April in connection with the 2013 death of John Wrana, 95.
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Police were called to the Victory Centre complex in the south suburb after Wrana hit a nurse with a cane and then holed up in his apartment with a knife. Eventually, five police officers carrying a riot shield, a shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds and a drawn handgun confronted Wrana.
A police commander holding a shield and Taser tried to shock Wrana as he threatened to cut the officers, but the prongs didn’t hit Wrana. When Wrana again came at officers, Taylor shot him once with a beanbag round, paused and then fired four more times.
Wrana died less than five hours later.
Prosecutors said police ignored “other viable options” to handle the situation, including allowing Wrana to remain alone in his room while officers attempted to calm him down.
Taylor’s attorney, Terry Ekl, said Friday his client was justified to use lethal force in the encounter but instead used beanbag rounds from a shotgun.
Prosecutors have said that Taylor improperly fired the beanbag rounds from a much closer range than called for during training.
In June, a federal wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Wrana’s family alleged that Taylor, the Park Forest police department, its police chief and the four other officers on the scene violated his civil rights.
Judge Luciano Panici, who will decide Taylor’s guilt or innocence in a bench trial, is expected to set a new trial date on Monday.
Ekl said prosecutors are asking for an additional two months to prepare for trial.
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Twitter: @SteveSchmadeke