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Chicago Mayor Fires Top Cop for Lying About Falling Asleep at the Wheel
On October 17, Chicago’s Superintendent of Police, Eddie Johnson, was found slumped over the steering wheel of his marked police car sound asleep. It is not clear whether he was in traffic lanes, but reports indicate that he was found not far from his home.
On Monday, December 2, Chicago’s freshman Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired the chief after accusing him of lying to her about the incident.
Johnson’s termination comes just three weeks following his announcement that he planned to retire from the police force at the end of the year — December 31. During his retirement announcement, he said that the job of leading the second-largest US police department for three years had essentially ruined his health and strained relationships with his family and friends.
Johnson, 59, initially told the world (and the mayor) that he had fallen asleep at the wheel as a result of a change or “mix up” in his blood pressure medication.
Subsequent media reports, however, indicated that the chief told the mayor directly that he had had a “couple of drinks” before driving.
For her part, Mayor Lightfoot in a statement said that Johnson had obviously “engaged in a series of ethical lapses that are intolerable.” That statement followed a continuing…
