On the night of July 24, 2024, two Black men were stopped by Chicago Police near 326 South Cicero Avenue in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.

Both stops were legally justified. What happened next was not.

The Illegal Search

The first man was stopped for drinking in public and blocking traffic. Both are minor offenses under Chicago Municipal Code.

The stop itself was legal. But after stopping him, Sergeant Timothy Gilliland went further. He seized the man’s backpack without a warrant, without the man’s consent, and without probable cause according to COPA.

Sgt. Gilliland searches inside backpack (COPA)

In his statement to COPA, Gilliland said he felt the man was selling narcotics from the backpack.

COPA found that “feeling” was not supported by any articulable facts or evidence. A hunch is not probable cause. Without a warrant, probable cause, exigent circumstances, or genuine consent, no officer has the legal right to search a person’s backpack under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Gilliland opened the backpack and searched inside it. The man was stopped for drinking in public. He was never arrested. He was never charged with anything.

The Threat of Jail

When the man objected and insisted on his Constitutional rights, Sergeant Gilliland did not back down.

COPA found that Gilliland inappropriately bullied and threatened the man with jail to force compliance with an illegal search.

COPA specifically noted that Gilliland’s conduct set a negative example to the other officers present and portrayed CPD in a negative light to members of the public who witnessed the incident.

The man was released without arrest or any citations after the search.

The Second Man

A second Black man was also detained during the same incident.

He was handcuffed and subjected to a pat-down search in his groin area by Officer Bret Hon, despite officers having no reasonable articulable suspicion that he was armed and dangerous, according to COPA.

Officer Hon searched the black man (COPA)

He was also released without arrest or any citations.

Nine Officers, No Documentation

Neither man was given a stop receipt as required by CPD policy. No Investigatory Stop Reports were filed for either man by any of the nine officers present.

Under CPD policy, all officers involved in a stop are equally responsible for completing the required documentation. That documentation exists specifically to create accountability for police stops of civilians. Its absence means there is no official CPD record of either man being stopped, handcuffed, or searched that night.

Multiple officers admitted this failure during their COPA interviews.

The Nine Officers

All nine CPD members involved were from Unit 015.

Sergeant Timothy Gilliland, Employed since January 24, 2000. 221 awards.

Officer Michael Tanon, Employed since October 16, 2017. 140 awards.

Officer Alex Posey, Employed since April 16, 2018. 94 awards.

Officer Bret Hon, Employed since October 16, 2017. 183 awards.

Officer Thomas Donovan, Employed since June 27, 2016. 142 awards.

Officer Daniel Grasz, Employed since January 17, 2017. 164 awards.

Officer Brian Burak, Employed since February 18, 2020. 62 awards.

Officer Eduardo Hernandez, Employed since September 18, 2017. 139 awards.

Officer David Cook, Employed since July 2, 2012. 170 awards.

COPA’s Findings and Discipline

COPA sustained findings against all nine officers for various violations, including the illegal backpack seizure and search, the illegal pat-down, and the collective failure to document the stops of two Black men.

Sergeant Gilliland received a two-day suspension. COPA had recommended up to 29 days.

Officer Hon, who conducted the illegal groin area pat-down search, received a two-day suspension. COPA had recommended up to 29 days.

Officer Tanon received a two-day suspension for documentation failures.

Officers Posey Burak and Cook received reprimands.

Officers Grasz Hernandez and Donovan received violation noted notations with no meaningful discipline imposed.

Superintendent Larry Snelling signed the partial concurrence letter on January 7, 2026, agreeing with most of COPA’s findings but reducing several penalties from COPA’s recommended ranges.

The public is reminded that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees protection from unlawful arrest and unreasonable search and seizure to all persons in this country.