Harvey Ald. Colby Chapman turned herself in at the city’s police station Thursday night, having been informed that a felony aggravated battery charge had been brought against her.
Chapman’s arrest came just one day after Cook County prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer brought against her following a City Council meeting April 28. Chapman, who has been a vocal critic of Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark’s administration, says her repeated arrests indicate political retaliation.
“This is not justice — this is political persecution,” Chapman’s attorney, Dan Olswang, said outside Harvey City Hall ahead of a scheduled special City Council that was ultimately canceled. “Mayor Clark has a history of using the powers of his office to squash dissent and punish those who challenge him.”
Chapman said several police vehicles were posted outside of her home Thursday and that an officer informed her that she would later be arrested for aggravated battery of a police officer.
The alderwoman called for her supporters to come to City Hall ahead of the planned council meeting, where she announced she would run to succeed Clark as mayor in 2027 and was defiant in her resistance to what she called tactics to silence her.
“There’s the opportunity for us all to corral our efforts and change the trajectory,” Chapman said. “And I’m going to do that, and that’s exactly why I’m running for mayor.”
Dozens of Chapman’s supporters who gathered outside of City Hall at about 6 p.m. followed her to the Harvey police station after she turned herself in.
Members of the public were barred from following Chapman inside the police station, but Olswang said Chapman was to be transferred to Markham, where she would be held overnight. He said police told him Chapman would appear before a Cook County judge at 9 a.m. Friday at the Markham Courthouse.
Olswang said police did not explain why Chapman was charged with aggravated battery, but Chapman said she believed the charge stemmed from the April 28 meeting where she was arrested on misdemeanor charges.
Her mother was also arrested during that meeting, though charges against her were also dropped.
In a video recorded during the April 28 meeting by Ryan Sinwelski, an activist with the Harvey Historical Society, Clark is heard ordering police to remove the alderwoman. A uniformed officer approached Chapman and appears to try to remove her from her council seat near the mayor, but Chapman appears to resist as she gathers up paperwork.
The audio on the recording is not clear, but at least three police officers direct Chapman toward the glass doors of the council room. The video shows her placing her hands on both sides of the door frame to resist being led out.
After Chapman and police went into a lobby area outside the council room, a loud exchange is heard with Clark at one point excusing himself to step out of the council chambers.
Chapman was previously arrested in October on charges of filing a false police report related to an August dispute with Corean Davis, Harvey city administrator and a political ally of Clark’s.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
