Officer Charged In Hit-And-Run Pleads Not Guilty

A Chicago Police officer charged with striking and killing a 13-year-old South Side boy in a May hit-and-run crash pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Richard Bolling, 39, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated DUI, and one count each of reckless homicide and leaving the scene of an accident with death or injury, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin. He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 21 for a status hearing.

Bolling is accused of driving a 2006 Dodge Charger that fatally struck Trenton Booker in the early-morning hours of May 22 at West 81st Street and South Ashland Avenue. 

Witnesses said Bolling was at a bar before he struck Booker, who was riding his bike.  Bolling was off-duty at the time.

The Cook County state's attorney's office said in May that nearly four hours passed before the off-duty officer was given a Breathalyzer test, which registered just shy of the .08 legal limit, prompting questions of favoritism in the police department.  Supt. Jody Weis said there was no evidence of preferential treatment, but that an investigation would continue.

Officers who arrested Bolling in the 1900 block of West 82nd Street noticed a "moderate odor" of alcohol on his breath and indicated he "did not seem to be impaired" after he performed standard field sobriety tests, the report stated.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Brown set bond at $2 million on May 24 and ordered Bolling to surrender his service weapon as a condition of bond, according to the state's attorney's office. His bond has since been reduced to $1 million. The 17-year veteran of the police tactical and narcotics division was released on June 2 after posting $100,000 bail.

Copyright SunTimes / NBC Chicago

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