RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Over his first six years as a Chicago cop, Joseph Vecchio ran with a troubled tactical unit and accrued more disciplinary complaints than any other cop.
On Thursday night, his tumultuous career was placed in serious jeopardy: The Chicago Police Board announced he faces firing in two separate disciplinary cases.
By Friday afternoon, Vecchio was in police custody, accused of brutally attacking a woman earlier this week and holding her against her will, according to a police report.
The woman was only able to escape by scaling down a third-floor balcony when Vecchio left her unattended to grab a food delivery, the report says. She told police that Vecchio had once warned her that he wouldn’t need a gun to kill her — “he could just crack her head open.”
The attack happened Tuesday, according to the report. The following day, the woman appeared before a judge who issued an emergency order of protection. The judge also issued a warrant for Vecchio’s arrest.
A police spokesperson said Vecchio surrendered at the Central District station and was charged with a felony count of aggravated domestic battery. He's expected to appear at a detention hearing Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Vecchio’s attorneys couldn’t be reached for comment. His father hung up on a reporter.
According to the police report and court records, Vecchio jumped on top of the woman while she was laying in bed, then punched her in the head, kneed her face and choked her with both hands inside his Northwest Side home. The woman had difficulty breathing and suffered bruising to her face and body and a cut to her upper lip, the report says.
Vecchio made her wash the bed sheets and clear out the bathroom, and he wouldn't let her leave the apartment, according to the police report. When he stepped away to get the food delivery, she jumped from the third-floor balcony to the balcony below.
On Wednesday, a day after her escape, the woman appeared before Cook County Circuit Judge Megan Goldish.
Goldish granted the woman an order of protection and ordered Vecchio to have no contact with her, court records show. An order signed by Goldish indicated there had been prior domestic violence.
Vecchio has been stripped of his policing powers since Oct. 7, 2025 — a day after Chicago’s police oversight chief wrote a letter to then-police Supt. Larry Snelling, urging him to take that step.
Former Near North District Cmdr. Michael Barz, right, stands with Officer Joseph Vecchio as he is awarded the 2024 First Responder of the Year Award by the River North Residents Association.
Provided by Tony Robins
LaKenya White, the chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, noted that Vecchio had been the subject of 76 disciplinary investigations and had been accused of domestic abuse, civil rights violations and providing false statements about traffic stops involving guns.
“When COPA’s Policy, Research, and Development Unit conducted an analysis of complaint data since 2019, it revealed that Officer Vecchio has the highest number of log number investigations in the entire Department,” White wrote to Snelling.
“Although many of these cases are still under investigation, the increasing number of complaints against Officer Vecchio suggests the need for immediate intervention by CPD.”
Three of those cases came up at Thursday’s police board meeting, including the two that could now lead to his dismissal. He was suspended 15 days in the other case.
Both of the dismissal cases involve allegedly improper vehicle searches – the types of accusations that have dogged the Near North District tactical team that Vecchio previously worked on.
In one of those cases, COPA found, Vecchio lied about how a gun was recovered in formal reports and in court. Snelling had argued against any discipline but he was overruled by the board, which adopted COPA’s recommendation to fire Vecchio and advanced the case.
Arlette Porter, the board member who made the ruling, said body camera footage showed there was “no reasonable articulable suspicion” the man who was stopped was committing a crime.
“Officer Vecchio’s intentional inaccuracies, untruths, and misleading testimony before the Court was egregious and in direct contravention to CPD policy regarding honesty and accountability,” Porter wrote.
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