A man who prosecutors said fired a gun while with Adam Toledo before the 13-year-old was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer was found not guilty of weapons charges Friday by a Cook County judge after a two-day bench trial.
Ruben Roman, 23, stood trial this week before Judge Charles Burns on three felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one felony count of recklessly discharging a firearm. The charges were not directly related to the death of Toledo, whose killing by Officer Eric Stillman roiled the city and spurred calls for reform to the Chicago Police Department’s foot pursuit policies.
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Instead, the charges stemmed from Roman’s alleged actions while with Toledo just before the shooting.
“I do not believe Mr. Roman is innocent. There is a difference between calling somebody innocent and saying not guilty,” Burns said as he acquitted Roman. “The state has failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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Prosecutors argued that Roman was captured on video firing a weapon at a passing car while standing with Toledo in the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue in Little Village in the early morning hours on March 29, 2021. They also said gloves he dropped tested positive for gunshot residue.
Roman’s defense attorneys, though, countered that no witnesses or forensic evidence definitively tie Roman to the weapon. They argued Toledo could have been the person who fired the gun, which they said creates reasonable doubt.
“Even in light of all of this evidence, it is not enough to show Ruben Roman actually possessed or fired a weapon,” said Karin Talwar, Roman’s attorney, during closing arguments on Thursday. “There is evidence of a possible other theory.”
The gunfire at 24th and Sawyer triggered a ShotSpotter detection, which brought Stillman and his partner, Corina Gallegos, to the area. The officers didn’t see anyone at the corner when they arrived, Gallegos testified during the trial, but saw Roman and Toledo later when they drove into an alley.
The officers started chasing Roman and Toledo, Gallegos said. Stillman pushed Roman to the ground and continued after Toledo. Gallegos stayed behind and handcuffed Roman, when she heard a gunshot.
Gallegos testified that she went to her partner and saw officers giving chest compressions to Toledo.
After the shooting, released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates police shootings, showed Toledo tossing a gun behind a fence before he was fatally shot by Stillman. Gallegos testified she later found the gun on the other side of the fence.
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After tossing the gun, Toledo turned toward the officer raising his hands, according to the video. When announcing her office would not charge Stillman, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the actions happened “almost simultaneously.”
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Roman’s had attorneys argued that the surveillance video that captured the gunfire that called officers to the area did not clearly depict any facial features. They said all the other evidence related to the gun was circumstantial and did not conclusively point to their client.
Prosecutors countered, though, that Toledo and Roman could be distinguished in the videos by their clothing.
“The defense wants to say that circumstantial evidence isn’t evidence, but it is,” Assistant State’s Attorney John Henning said on Wednesday. “The defendant is the person that you see in the church video and the school video.”
The Police Department’s policy on foot pursuits came under scrutiny after the shooting of Toledo and others, including from the independent monitor reviewing CPD’s progress in complying with a sweeping consent decree that orders reforms.
The department released its final, revised foot pursuit policy earlier this year.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com
