The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released officers’ body-camera footage and reports Wednesday afternoon detailing the in-custody death of 33-year-old Irene Chavez, who died at a hospital after attempting suicide in a South Side police lockup.
COPA released multiple body camera videos showing Chavez’s arrest just after midnight Dec. 18 at Jeffery Pub, a gay South Shore bar; her transport to the Grand Crossing district station; and officers discovering her unconscious body in lockup.
An arrest report that was released said Chavez was taken into custody after she was accused of punching a security guard in the face after he asked her to stop trying to play music on the broken jukebox.
After the security guard restrained her and took her outside to wait for police, she spat in the face of a second security guard, the report said. The security guards requested she be charged with a misdemeanor and not a felony.
In an incident report on her suicide attempt, officers noted that while on the scene, Chavez said, “I’m a veteran! I have PTSD!” but didn’t make threats to harm herself. She also said that she had about three drinks while at the bar.
According to the report, Chavez was “belligerent during processing, repeatedly shouting ‘It was self-defense!’ ‘I’m a veteran, I have PTSD! Talk to my therapist!'” When taken into the lockup, officers removed her belt and shoe laces and handcuffed her to a bench.
Just after 1 a.m., she shouted, “This isn’t funny!” and threw one of her boots at the holding cell window, the report said. She became quiet for about five minutes until one of the officers looked through the window of the lockup and saw that her short-sleeved button-down shirt was off and wrapped around her neck, the report said.
Body camera videos show that the shirt was tied to the metal bar that she was handcuffed to above the bench, which appears to be a couple of feet off the ground.
Officers checked her pulse, performed CPR and called for EMS, according to the videos and report. Officers were able to feel a faint pulse while they did chest compressions.
Emergency responders said she did not have a pulse before taking her to the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the report. At the hospital, she was able to begin breathing on her own but remained in critical condition.
According to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, she was pronounced dead at 9:49 a.m. at the hospital after the incident had occurred at 1:09 a.m. at the lockup.
Chavez’s sister, Iris Chavez, and family attorney Andrew Stroth said they did not have any immediate comment. Stroth said that Chavez was a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2006 to 2012 and was honorably discharged as a sergeant.
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Military records were not immediately available.
On Dec. 27, Chavez’s family held a news conference outside of the Grand Crossing district, where they said they did not have any information or narrative about her death. They initially had questions about her mental state during and after her arrest, and Iris Chavez said her sister suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Police spokesman Don Terry said the police department does not comment on COPA death investigations.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th Ward, wrote in a tweet Wednesday that “Irene Chavez should be with us today. She was just 33 years old, a U.S. military veteran suffering from PTSD. Instead of receiving the mental healthcare she needed, she was left in a police cell and ignored while she yelled for help.”
“We have more than enough jail cells in America, what we desperately lack are systems of care,” Ramirez-Rosa wrote. “She died in police custody, after serving our nation, because our nation is ill-equipped at dealing with individuals in mental health crisis.”