Former police officer charged in North Avenue Beach incident after viral incident

A former Chicago police officer caught on video last year grabbing and restraining a Black woman walking her dog after hours at North Avenue Beach has been indicted on felony charges related to the incident, court records show.

Bruce Dyker was indicted on charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct and he is expected to be arraigned later this week, according to Cook County court records.

Dyker, a 23-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, left the force last month before the department had announced any formal disciplinary action taken against him.

The incident was captured in several videos that went viral last year, sparking a Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation and a response from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said she was “quite disturbed” by videos of the incident.

COPA concluded its investigation into Dyker’s conduct at the end of October. The results of that investigation were not immediately made public.

Videos of the August 2021 incident — including one taken by bystanders and another captured by Dyker’s body camera — show the officer approaching the woman, Nikkita Brown, at North Avenue Beach around midnight. Brown backs away from Dyker as he approaches her and orders her to leave the park, which was then closed.

Dyker closely follows Brown, the video shows. She repeatedly tells him not to come closer and to back up because he isn’t wearing a mask, and he continues to approach and order her to leave the park.

Eventually, according to the video, the officer yells, “Get out of the park. What do you not understand about that? The park is closed. You are trespassing on city property, and you will go to jail if you don’t take your dog and leave.”

“I feel threatened,” Brown says as she stops walking.

“Good,” Dyker responds. “I’m about to put handcuffs on you if you don’t keep walking. Do you want to test me on this.”

Dyker grabs her arm and struggles to restrain her, the video shows. She shouts, “Let go!”

After about a minute of grappling, the two separate. Brown picks up her fallen phone and walks away from Dyker and out of the park with her dog on a leash as the two continue to argue.

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com