Couple Sues, Says Cop Beat Them Up

Lawsuit alleges officers responded to 911 call but didn't do anything to off-duty cop

A Chicago couple has filed a lawsuit claiming an off-duty Chicago police officer beat them and threatened to kill them two years ago.

Two years to the day of the incident, attorney Gregory Kulis released 911 recordings of the night they say Officer Officer Chris Gofron, from the Englewood District, attacked them.

"An off-duty cop is very drunk. He just assaulted us and put a gun to my face," Heather Rzany is heard saying in one of the 911 calls.

Kulis said Rzany and her boyfriend, Luis Cordero, were approached by Gofron outside an apartment complex on Chicago's far northwest side. Gofron allegedly stumbled toward the couple of with a beer bottle in his hand, telling them to leave the property.

Gofron attacked Cordero, the attorney said, before going after Rzany.

"He grabbed her by the neck, put the gun in her mouth and basically threatened to blow her brains out," said Kulis.

The lawsuit alleges that Chicago police officers responded to Rzany's call but didn't do anything to Gofron.

"He spoke to a Chicago police officer, he flashed his badge, and the Chicago police officer told him [to] get out of here," Kulis said, gesturing with his hand. "And he disappeared into the night."

Rzany was left bloodied, her neck marked with scratches.

The lawsuit also names the responding officer who allegedly spoke to Gofron at the time, but didn't record his name or badge number. The officer, identified as Jason Burg, 41, from the Jefferson Park District, filed a report at the time which stated that Gofron had fled the scene before Burg could speak to him.

The couple also accused the Independent Police Review Authority of not being thorough in their investigation.

The couple said they spent two years trying to identify Gofron, who, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, was a defendant in another lawsuit which accused him of using excessive force on two juveniles he and another officer arrested in 2010.

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