Details of Harvey Ald. Colby Chapman’s recent assault charge remained murky Tuesday morning as the city of Harvey failed to show up to the first scheduled court hearing in the case. Chapman, after waiting 40 minutes with a Cook County Circuit Court judge in Markham, was dismissed with plans to return on Nov. 18.
Harvey police arrested Chapman Aug. 22, though the details were not clear. City officials required a Freedom of Information Act request be filed for the report, and then redacted much of the information, including whether it was a county or city charge.
Neither the city nor the Cook County state’s attorney’s office has filed any official action related to the assault charges that were named in the police record of Chapman’s arrest.
Arrest records state Chapman blocked city administrator Corean Davis as Davis was trying to leave the council chambers Aug. 14 following a meeting to go speak with the city attorney. As Davis walked past, Chapman allegedly hit her with her purse after yanking it back and spoke to her “in an aggressive manner,” according to arrest records.
Chapman continued to behave aggressively toward Davis as she spoke to the attorney in a hallway, the complaint stated.
“(Davis) was behind a glass door and observed the alderwoman approach from the opposite side, slap the palm of her hand over her other fist in an aggressive gesture and state, ‘come on out,’” the arrest record said.
Chapman told the Daily Southtown at the time she believed the arrest and subsequent charge were politically motivated, stemming from her outspoken criticism of Mayor Christopher Clark’s office.
“This has been a constant toil of me being transparent and holding folks accountable. And due to that, I am being bullied, harassed, obliterated in so many different ways and it’s really unreal,” Chapman said.
Chapman on Tuesday deferred questions about the court appearance to her lawyer, who could not immediately be reached. The Cook County state’s attorney directed all questions to the city of Harvey, whose spokesman, Glenn Hartson, also did not respond to requests to comment.
Davis also sought a workplace protection restraining order against Chapman Aug. 22, which was dismissed by the court Sept. 25. Davis’ and Harvey’s lawyer, Sean Connolly, attempted to refile the order of protection and said they will appear in Markham court Oct. 16, though an official court date has not been added to the court calendar.
Davis said in an accompanying affidavit filed Sept. 27 that after Chapman hit her with her purse, she followed her as she walked toward the city attorney and threatened to beat her while punching her fist in her hands and putting her fist to both eyes. She also alleges Chapman had to be physically restrained from approaching her by at least three people.
Samantha Moilanen contributed to this report.
