Chicago cop charged in hit-run death of boy, 13

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Chicago cop charged in hit-run death of boy, 13

17-YEAR VETERAN | Counts include reckless homicide, aggravated DUI

May 23, 2009

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Criminal Courts Reporter

A Chicago Police officer was charged Saturday with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence for a fatal hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of a 13-year-old South Side boy.

Witnesses had seen Richard Bolling, 39, at a bar in the vicinity of 55th and Indiana before his car struck Trenton Booker at the intersection of 81st and Ashland around 1:30 a.m. Friday, said Sally Daly, a spokeswoman with the Cook County State's Attorney's office. Bolling was off-duty at the time of the crash.

Patrol officers apprehended Bolling a few blocks away when they noticed he was driving the wrong way on a one-way street in the 1900 block of West 82nd Street, Daly said. Inside Bolling's Dodge Charger, which sustained front-end and windshield damage, officers discovered an open bottle of beer, Daly said.

Bolling, a 17-year department veteran currently serving in a tactical narcotics unit, was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident where a death or injury occurred, driving in the wrong direction on a one-way street and transportation of alcohol, authorities said. He is expected in Bond Court this afternoon.

Bolling is the second Chicago police officer accused in a deadly, alcohol-related hit-and-run incident in little over a month.

In April, detective Joseph Frugoli, 41, was slapped with similar charges for the fiery Dan Ryan collision that killed Andrew Cazares, 23, and Fausto Manzera, 21.

Both Bolling and Frugoli have been stripped of their police powers.

Relatives and friends grieving with Trenton's family said Bolling's arrest and position as a law enforcement official shouldn't overshadow their losing a fun-loving, caring child who accepted all his peers, including the "nerds and jocks."

Trenton was scheduled to graduate eighth grade at Cuffe Math-Science Tech Elementary Academy in a few weeks.

The teenager enjoyed math and shooting hoops, which friends said he had been doing at a neighborhood park hours before he was killed.

Trenton relished his status as the only boy in a family of five sisters, childhood friends said as they left his Brainerd home Friday evening.

"He was more like the man of the house," said Terranisha Douglas, 14.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/15...052309.article