Man Recalls Confrontation With Chicago Cop At Center Of Latest Video Controversy
(CBS) -- Long before Officer Kevin Fry shot Cedrick Chatman in the South Shore, he was involved in the shooting of another unarmed teenager who is now 25 years old.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports on a frightening encounter with Chicago police.
Eric Tonson first met Fry eight years ago when, he says, the Chicago cop shot him in the neck.
"I thought I was about to die. I was losing a lot of blood," he says.
It happened the night of Aug. 23, 2007. Tonson, a 120-pound 17-year-old at the time, ran when police tried to question him.
He says he was scared because he had heard about several fatal police-involved shootings.
So, when he found himself cornered by four officers, he says he wasn't about to disobey an order.
"Officer Fry said, 'Put your hands up,' and the detectives on the other side said, 'Get on the ground,'" Tonson says. "I didn't know what to do. So, as I'm about to get on the ground, he shot. He shot me in my neck."
Police say they say the young man reaching for something shiny, possibly a gun, they thought at the time. But Tonson he had his hands up before he was shot.
Although another officer also fired, it was never publicly determined which officer's bullet hit Tonson. Tonson says he's convinced it was Fry's because another officer began yelling at Fry.
He was in the hospital for several days and in a brace for several months. He was arrested and jailed for drug possession but those charges were later dropped.
Tonson says he had no drugs or weapons on him at the time of the shooting.
His mother, Darnell Tonson, says a mug shot taken of her son has become a picture to cherish.
"It could have been an obituary," she says.
She says Fry should never have been on duty after what he did to her son. Chatman, whom Fry fatally shot during a 2013 foot chase, would likely be alive today, she says.
The Independent Police Review Authority investigated and decided in favor of the officers, saying they had feared for their safety that night. The city of Chicago settled with the Tonson family for $99,000.
Fry has had 30 complaints against him. None of the complaints were sustained.
