A veteran Chicago police officer will no longer carry a badge as part of a plea agreement in which he admitted that he struck an eighth grade boy while making an off-duty visit to a South Side elementary school two years ago.
Craig Lancaster, 56, was placed on 18 months’ supervision and ordered to undergo eight hours of anger management as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors reduced the original felony charge of aggravated battery to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Lancaster also agreed to voluntarily decertify as a police officer, ending his nearly 30 years of service to the Chicago Police Department. He was indicted in late 2023 after the Tribune published a video that showed Lancaster striking 14-year-old JaQuwaun Williams near his throat as the boy walked into Gresham Elementary School that May.
The teen’s family also filed a civil suit against Lancaster and the city of Chicago, accusing the latter of instilling a sense of impunity among the police ranks by failing to investigate and punish misconduct. The family recently settled with the city and Lancaster for an undisclosed amount, according to federal court records.
The boy’s grandparents, Lynida Williams-Saddler and Vincent Suttles, attended Thursday’s court hearing with their attorney, Jordan Marsh. The teen, who now plays high school basketball at Simeon Career Academy, did not accompany them.
Williams-Saddler said her grandson is doing well but the incident unfortunately left him with a negative opinion of police. The grandmother said she was satisfied with the plea.
“I think it was (fair) because (Lancaster) had to go through a lot too,” she said, “and that’s a good thing because he shouldn’t have put his hands on a child.”
The family’s attorney said Lancaster initially denied touching the teen. He and the family credited the school surveillance video for bringing about the criminal charges.
“We wouldn’t be anywhere without cameras,” Marsh said. “That’s maybe the biggest difference in law enforcement accountability in the last 30 years … because it would all be ‘he said, she said’ without cameras. There’s something about law enforcement, even today, that they get a lot of benefit of the doubt that, in my experience, they don’t deserve.”
Lancaster entered the plea before Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. He declined the judge’s offer to speak.
Lancaster attorney Tim Grace has told the Tribune he thinks prosecutors went too far in charging him with a felony carrying up to five years in prison. Grace noted that Lancaster, a father to two adult children, has a master’s degree and spent nearly 30 years as a Chicago police officer.
“He accepts his responsibility for his role in this case,” Grace told the judge.
On Thursday, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson confirmed Lancaster “is no longer a member of the department.”
Lancaster was on school grounds early May 18, 2023, to drop off money for his girlfriend, a teacher who was directing students into the building before classes began. He was off duty at the time. Prosecutors said the teacher had left the school door open, apparently creating confusion as to whether students were supposed to be lining up or could enter.
In an earlier interview with the Tribune, JaQuwaun said he and a classmate were talking about an alleged foul during a pickup basketball game as they walked toward the door. Lancaster, who had his back toward the teen, told investigators he heard belligerent remarks aimed at the teacher.
“The defendant then stepped in front of the (teen), placing his left hand on the (teen’s) right arm and his open right hand around the base of the (teen’s) neck, at his collarbone,” Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Kathryn Sodetz said Thursday. “The defendant pushed (the teen) hard enough to make him lose his breath and stumble several steps back before he could catch his balance.”
The video, which has no sound, does not show JaQuwaun interacting with Lancaster before the physical contact or doing anything obvious to provoke it. After the officer made contact with the teen, the teacher is seen moving closer to the student, touching him on the arms and instructing him to stand near a group of other students. He complied. Lancaster, who was wearing civilian clothes, left the schoolyard less than a minute after the incident, the video shows.
Lancaster began with the department as a civilian employee and has spent much of his career protecting the city’s transit stations. He received more than 50 honorable mentions and commendations from the department, according to his attorney, including when he and fellow officers on the mass transit team nabbed a suspect accused of sexually abusing and battering young female passengers.
City records show Lancaster also has faced nearly 30 allegations of misconduct. The majority were use-of-force complaints, including in 2004 and 2006 when suspects in separate incidents accused him of grabbing them by their neck or throat.
Police review agencies cleared the officer in both of those cases — the latter of which also occurred on Chicago school property, according to records obtained by the Tribune.
Under the CPD’s accountability system, only three of the nearly 30 allegations against Lancaster were sustained. Two of the more serious sustained complaints — both related to discharging a weapon while off duty — resulted in unpaid 30-day suspensions, according to personnel documents.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
sstclair@chicagotribune.com