Page 47 - May 2017 Newsletter

rearview mirror. When calling in the report, he described Holt as a young black man, wearing a white t-shirt and hoodie. He saw the gun in his right hand.
While waiting for responding officers to show up, Lew- is maneuvered his car to track Holt south on Wentworth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets. Illinois State Police officers positioned their search figuring that Holt might pop out of a gangway or a store, and Lewis was sit- ting in his car on Wentworth when he saw a man come out of store, again in his rearview mirror.
“He started running,” Lewis described. “I told him, ‘Stop, Chicago Police.’ He looked at me, continued to run and he fell in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes so I wouldn’t hit him. He got up and started running.”
This is where Lewis felt he took a risk. He did not see a gun in Holt’s hand, so he emerged from his vehicle de- spite not wearing a vest. The gun could have been tucked in Holt’s waist or in his pocket. He went over the fence, and Lewis followed, landing a on glass table that broke the bone in his right little finger. Holt jumped back over and fell to the ground, and Lewis had him.
“He said, ‘It wasn’t ‘me’ officer,’” Lewis continued. “I told him, ‘I saw what you did. Put your hands up and keep them where I can see them.’ I started yelling for help, and two or three minutes later, two officers showed up and placed him in custody.”
Surveillance video obtained later showed Holt hiding his gun, a .40 caliber Taurus pistol with one round left,
under a file cabinet in a business on Wentworth. Holt later admitted to state police investigators on video to shooting 28-year-old Jeremy Scullark, whom Holt knew, and robbing him of $616.
Afterward, Lewis received a call from Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who expressed his appreciation. “He told me it was a brave job and we need more officers like myself,” Lewis recounted. He said his sergeant and lieutenant also commended him for going above and beyond the call of duty.
In retrospect, Lewis acknowledged that he wasn’t sure what made him jump the fence to go after Holt. He rea- soned that his work as a personal trainer and commit- ment to fitness probably helped, but really it was adren- alin that took over, so much so that he didn’t even feel any pain in his hand until two hours later.
Because of the broken bone, he is out on IOD – as soon as he announced he was Chicago Police, he was consid- ered on duty – probably until the middle of May. Be- cause the injury is to his shooting hand, he might have to do six weeks of therapy before getting back on the job.
In the end, however, Lewis was particularly proud of being able to apprehend Holt without any use of ex- treme force. Apparently, he had his sights set on how best to do his job.
“My job is to bring him to justice,” Lewis emphasized. “And to serve and protect and enforce the law.” d
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