Police, protestors clash at demonstration

The sister of a woman critically injured in a Sept. 5 collision between a motorcycle and a car driven by a retired Springfield police officer says she appreciated the public apology of the city’s police chief but was disappointed by the mayor’s video response to the incident.

Chief Kenneth Scarlette and one of the deputy chiefs, Andrew Dodd, “have shown me compassion, and they did the right thing,” Springfield resident Caitlyn Weiss said during the City Council’s Sept. 10 committee-of-the-whole meeting.

But she said Mayor Misty Buscher was “insensitive” in a video message the mayor posted Sept. 9.

The message, in which Buscher apologized to Chelsey Farley and Farley’s family, “didn’t feel genuine,” Weiss said. Weiss later added that Buscher sounded “like a zombie” in the video.

Buscher told Illinois Times the morning after the council meeting that it was never her intent to upset Farley's family. "I was apologizing for the family going through this situation at all," the mayor said.

Weiss, 33, a Springfield resident and sister of crash victim Chelsey Farley, 30, said she wants to see Springfield police officers who responded to the scene of the collision face disciplinary action because of what she called unprofessional conduct captured on multiple cellphone videos posted on social media.

“They need to have some type of punishment, that’s all,” Weiss told Illinois Times at a Sept. 9 demonstration outside Springfield Police Department headquarters at 800 E. Monroe St. “The conduct of the officers is obviously why we have this outrage.”

The event was advertised to “demand accountability from the police” after the Sept. 5 crash and a Sept. 4 police-involved shooting in the 1100 block of South 18th Street that resulted in one man suspected of shooting at and striking an occupied home being hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Weiss, Farley’s other family members and people in the crowd Sept. 9 said they were upset that Springfield police failed to keep retired police officer Michael Egan, 50, in the back seat of a squad car and instead allowed him to roam the crime scene, stumble around and accept multiple glasses of water to drink.

Weiss also said she didn’t like the fact that Egan, who retired the same day as the crash, was spotted smiling and chatting in an upbeat manner with officers at the scene.

Weiss said she and her father conveyed their frustration to Buscher and Scarlette in a meeting that took place while more than 80 people protested outside police headquarters Sept. 9.

Outside the meeting, demonstrators made profane gestures toward the police headquarters and chanted, “No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police,” and “Oink, oink. Piggy, piggy. We’re going to make your life shitty.”

The demonstration included a scuffle between protestors and about a dozen police officers with plastic shields. The pushing and shoving by both sides took place outdoors after police cleared the lobby of police headquarters. Protesters outside the entrance entered the building and continued the demonstration in the lobby.

No severe injuries were reported, but one of the event’s organizers, Springfield resident Tiara Standage, 34, said she was targeted out of the crowd by one of the police officers, then grabbed by her hair with her back to the police. She said an officer then choked and pulled her to the ground by the hoodie she was wearing.

Standage said she was taken into custody, handcuffed and put in a squad car for an hour before being released.

Standage, the founder of Intricate Minds, a harm-reduction nonprofit organization, said police told her she was being ticketed for aggravated battery to a police officer in lieu of being arrested. The citation, which could result in a formal felony charge, requires her to go to court at a later date, she said.

She said the citation was unjustified. “I didn’t touch anybody,” she said.

Several of the protesters who attended the council’s Sept. 10 meeting said police overreacted at the event. Protestor Reggie Guyton said the police department “has a culture and a history of brutality.”

But Scarlette told Illinois Times the police response was appropriate after about 20 protestors entered the police headquarters building.

The protestors were “trying to take over the police lobby and beyond,” Scarlette said. “The thinking is, ‘We have an angry mob that’s trying to get into our facility. Dangerous things can happen if we allow an angry mob to overtake our facility.”

Scarlette said Standage was taken into custody and cited because she allegedly threw a bottle of water at one of the police officers at the scene, hitting the officer. Standage denied the allegation.

The same day as the Sept. 9 demonstration, Egan, of Springfield, was arrested for aggravated driving under the influence and causing great bodily harm in the crash.

Egan, whose annual base pay as an officer with 20 or more years of experience was $129,982, according to city records, was held in custody after his arrest and released Sept. 10. A Sangamon County associate circuit judge allowed his release after Egan pleaded not guilty.

Illinois State Police, the agency investigating the crash, said in a news release that Egan was driving a 2018 Toyota northbound on East Lake Shore Drive in Springfield at about 10 p.m. Sept. 5 when he failed to yield the right of way and made a left turn in front of a southbound Kawasaki motorcycle.

The motorcycle struck the side of the Toyota, and both the driver and passenger were ejected from the cycle, state police said. Both were transported to HSHS St. John’s Hospital with serious injuries.

Farley’s boyfriend, Trevor Hopkins, 29, a self-employed mechanic, was driving the motorcycle, according to Farley’s mother, Rani Jordan. Hopkins has since been released from St. John’s after suffering a severe concussion, large cuts on his forehead and other scrapes and bruises, Jordan said.

Farley, a mother of two and owner of a recently opened arts and crafts shop in Springfield, who was Hopkins’ passenger on the motorcycle, remains in the intensive-care unit of HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Jordan said.

Farley shattered her pelvis in the crash, which also broke both of her collar bones and caused bleeding in her brain, Jordan said.

Farley has been unconscious since the accident and is sedated and on a ventilator, her sister said. Neither Hopkins nor Farley was wearing a helmet, Weiss said.

Weiss said Egan appeared to receive preferential treatment by police after the accident, and the fact that Egan was allowed to remain at the scene for several hours made it look like Egan’s former coworkers were allowing time for his blood-alcohol level to drop after he refused Breathalyzer and field-sobriety tests.

Authorities charged Egan with aggravated DUI after they obtained search warrants to collect evidence, including a blood draw that was processed by a state crime lab.

Weiss, who had previously scheduled the Sept. 9 meeting with the mayor and Scarlette, said Scarlette “teared up,” and both the chief and mayor “seemed sympathetic” to the family’s concerns after Weiss and her father, Dennis Farley Jr. of Rochester, spoke to them.

According to Weiss, Scarlette said police leaders needed to review video footage recorded by bystanders to learn more, but it didn’t appear responding officers broke any laws.

The mayor and chief said an ISP investigation is ongoing into Egan’s alleged criminal conduct, according to Weiss. Scarlette said an internal investigation is being conducted to determine whether any discipline of responding officers is warranted.

In reference to the conduct of officers at the scene, Buscher and Scarlette said the conduct of responding police officers was “wrong,” according to Weiss.

Scarlette apologized to the council, the public and to Farley's family and Hopkins at the Sept. 10 council meeting for Egan’s alleged drunken driving and the “lack of compassion and the lack of empathy that was displayed on scene that day” by responding officers.

“There are no double standards in this industry, nor can there ever be the appearance of double standards when it comes to investigating crimes,” Scarlette said.

Directing his comments toward Egan, who wasn’t at the meeting, Scarlette said Egan spent 23 years in law enforcement and “took an oath to serve our citizens. That oath doesn’t end the day that you retire. That oath is something you take with you to the grave. That man failed this oath. That man embarrassed the profession of law enforcement.

“He should be ashamed of himself for his actions, his selfish actions, that led to such a horrific crash,” Scarlette said.

In Buscher’s Sept. 9 news release and video message, she said: “I want to apologize to Chelsey Farley and her family for this terrible tragedy they have endured, as well as the other victim and his family. I want to thank Chelsey’s family for taking the time to meet with myself and Chief Scarlette today.”

Buscher also encouraged people to donate to the Farley family’s GoFundMe page. She said she is praying for Chelsey Farley's recovery and asked others to do the same.

But Weiss said the regret Buscher expressed in private Sept. 9 about responding officers’ conduct at the crash scene wasn’t reflected in the video message. The inconsistency may not have been intentional, but Buscher was responsible for it nonetheless, Weiss said.

Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer for Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or x.com/DeanOlsenIT.