An Austin man is facing felony charges after a confrontation between him and a Chicago firefighter Sunday morning ended with the paramedic knocking him to the ground with a metal bar.
Lamar Brown, 32, allegedly confronted the firefighter at the intersection of 73rd Street and Maryland Avenue in Grand Crossing. He’s facing charges of aggravated battery to an EMT and aggravated assault to a firefighter, police said in a news release.
According to a police report contained in court records, Brown has eight active arrest warrants from Macon County in central Illinois. The report didn’t state what the fire crew was doing on the block before the confrontation, but alleges that Brown punched the firefighter in the chest and ignored a police officer’s order to stop swinging.
The officer who had given the order to stand down then used her Taser on Brown, but Brown allegedly kept advancing toward the paramedic with his fists raised. The firefighter then allegedly hit Brown with a Halligan bar, which is made of metal and typically used by firefighters to break down or pry open doors, hard enough that he fell down. The firefighter refused medical attention, the report stated.
Video footage circulating on social media that captures the alleged confrontation shows a man standing in the street in front of a parked fire truck, arguing with a police officer who had a yellow Taser out and pointed, as a small crowd looks on. A firefighter stands in front of the truck with a metal bar in his hand. After a few moments, the man approaches the firefighter, who shrugs and starts to step back toward the truck.
The footage then shows the man picking up speed and swinging his arms as the firefighter continues to back up, at which point the firefighter apparently swings at the man with the bar, hitting him in the side, as the police officer deploys the Taser. The firefighter hits the man in the head moments later. The man then falls backward onto the pavement.
Brown is the subject of an active missing persons report and tested positive for PCP while being evaluated at St. Bernard Hospital shortly after the altercation, the arrest report stated. He was set to appear before Judge Deirdre Dyer Tuesday afternoon, according to Cook County court records.