CHICAGO — Officer Michael Bergeson has been acquitted of felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident and filing a false police report.
Clayton Meyer and his girlfriend Nina Pilacoutas were both cycling home after work when they reached an intersection with stop signs.
According to Meyer, the boyfriend, officer Bergeson was speeding and swerving and ran a stop sign, hitting Nina with his truck so hard that she flew over the hood and then smashed her face on the concrete.
She suffered multiple broken bones, multiple facial injuries and bruises, as well as blunt force trauma to her head.
Officer Bergeson then got out of his truck and was clearly intoxicated, according to Meyer.
According to the attorney, officer Bergeson called 911 in a confused and drunk manner and kept hanging up on the dispatcher, without providing his name or location. That’s when he fled the scene before the ambulance could arrive, according to reports.
However, his license plate number was recovered.
For two days, officer Bergson was unable to be found at his home, and his truck was missing.
Then, strangely, he filed a “police report” in which he claimed that it was Nina who hit his truck while she was cycling.
Bergeson was eventually charged with fleeing the scene of an accident and filing a false report, but an attorney, Lauren Freeman, seemed to suspect that he might get away with it.
“Do not cut this guy a break because he called 911 in a drunken, cryptic manner,” Freeman said during the bench trial.
“That’s what makes it worse, because the defendant is a cop, and he leaves a bleeding young woman in the middle of the street because he’s drunk.”
Nonetheless, he was acquitted of the two felonies. He is still receiving pay and has been given administrative duties.
Instead, the judge found him guilty of a misdemeanor for failing to provide aid at the scene of an accident.
Bergeson may get probation or a maximum of one year.