CHICAGO (WLS) — A fifth officer on a controversial Chicago police tactical team has been stripped of his police powers following dozens of misconduct complaints and mounting lawsuits, according to a recently filed court record.
Two days after an ABC7 I-Team report on the 1863 tactical team — a group of eight Chicago police members accused of unlawfully searching drivers on the Near North Side for the past several years — Officer Richard Rodriquez Jr. was relieved of his police powers.
### Unusual Development During Deposition
The manner in which Rodriquez was stripped of his police powers was described as “an unusual development” by civil rights attorney Jordan Marsh. During a court-ordered deposition regarding an alleged unlawful traffic stop, a CPD sergeant arrived 90 minutes into the session and escorted Rodriquez to Chicago police headquarters to hand over his badge and gun.
Marsh, who is representing 12 plaintiffs suing the department and city over alleged misconduct by the 1863 tactical team, noted this move was “unprecedented.” He stated, “The police department does not get to dictate when a deposition, a court-ordered deposition, ends.”
### Background on Depositions and Litigation
For the past year, Marsh has been attempting to depose Rodriquez to question him about his work with the 1863 team. Interestingly, Marsh previously worked for the City of Chicago’s Corporation Counsel for nearly two decades, representing Chicago police officers in court. Now, he represents drivers suing the department.
Following years of litigation, some officers, including Rodriquez, have been pulled off the streets pending internal investigations. “They’re not going to be able to pull anyone over. They’re not going to be able to harass anyone. They’re not going to be able to profile anyone. So that’s positive,” Marsh said.
### Other Officers Stripped of Police Powers
As the I-Team reported last Wednesday, four other members of the 1863 tactical team — Officers Joseph Vecchio, Mario Fuentes, Nicu Tohatan, and Michael Donnelly — have also been relieved of police powers. Initially, the team’s sergeant and Officer Rodriquez were reassigned to different parts of the city.
The I-Team reached out to these officers and their attorneys for comment, but received no response. A Chicago Police Department spokesperson told the I-Team that Officer Fuentes recently “submitted his paperwork for resignation.”
Currently, only two officers from the original eight-person 1863 tactical team remain working in the 18th District.
### Misconduct Complaints and Lawsuits
The five officers mentioned — Vecchio, Fuentes, Tohatan, Donnelly, and Rodriquez — have faced the highest number of misconduct complaints in the department, according to records from the Civilian Office for Police Accountability (COPA) obtained by the I-Team.
Collectively, members of the 1863 team have been named in 23 civil rights lawsuits filed in the last five years. In court filings, the officers and city have denied any wrongdoing.
One such case filed in 2024 targets Rodriquez and Donnelly over the alleged unlawful arrest and search of Chicago residents Jovan Streeter and Marquita Beecham in 2023. Friday’s deposition of Rodriquez was related specifically to this lawsuit.
### Details of the 2023 Traffic Stop
Body-worn camera footage of the 2023 traffic stop was shared with the I-Team and has been entered as evidence in the lawsuit. Streeter and Beecham claim they were pulled over for failing to register their vehicle—a charge later dismissed. During the traffic stop, the couple accused Officer Rodriquez of abusive and threatening behavior.
In the video, Rodriquez is heard saying:
“I’m not harassing [expletive] anybody in the city of Chicago,” referring to Streeter and Beecham.
“I don’t give a [expletive] about you, or this mother [expletive] here. I don’t give a [expletive] about this car or this [expletive] bro,” he can be heard saying, using a derogatory term for Beecham before deactivating his body-worn camera.
### Internal Investigation and Disciplinary Action
According to court and disciplinary records, the 2023 stop and search was investigated internally. Rodriquez was suspended for three days “for using profanity when interacting with two members of the public, as well as prematurely deactivating his body-worn camera.”
An October 2025 memo sent to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling by COPA’s Interim Chief Administrator recommended that Rodriquez be reassigned and considered for placement into CPD’s Behavioral Intervention System.
The memo also noted that during Rodriquez’s eight-year tenure with the department, he had been the subject of 67 misconduct complaints—“the second highest number of complaint investigations in the entire Department,” according to COPA.
The majority of these complaints relate to his activities as part of the 1863 tactical team.
### Current Status and Legal Proceedings
Before Rodriquez was stripped of his police powers, the CPD spokesperson said he had been reassigned from the 18th District to the Bureau of Patrol.
Rodriquez and his attorney declined to comment to the I-Team. In court responses, Rodriquez denied allegations of abusive and threatening behavior during the Streeter/Beecham stop.
Following the truncated deposition, attorney Marsh filed a “motion to compel” the court to order Rodriquez to complete the deposition and requested explanations from the city regarding the incident.
Both the Chicago Police Department and the Department of Law declined to comment on the matter due to pending litigation.
U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland has ordered the city to respond to Marsh’s filing by the end of this week.
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https://abc7chicago.com/post/5th-chicago-police-department-tactical-team-member-richard-rodriquez-jr-stripped-powers-traffic-stop-turned-search/18646279/