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Rekia Boyd's Friend Sues Chicago Cop Who Killed Unarmed Woman

By Erin Meyer | March 21, 2013 7:22am
 Antonio Cross (left) who was shot in the hand by the same off-duty officer who killed Rekia Boyd (right), spoke to the media Wednesday after charges against him were dropped. Cross has filed a lawsuit against the city and the cop who allegedly shot him.
Antonio Cross (left) who was shot in the hand by the same off-duty officer who killed Rekia Boyd (right), spoke to the media Wednesday after charges against him were dropped. Cross has filed a lawsuit against the city and the cop who allegedly shot him.
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DNAinfo/Family

CHICAGO — A man originally accused of pulling a gun on the off-duty Chicago cop who fatally shot Rekia Boyd in 2012 has some accusations of his own.

Antonio Cross, 40, who was shot in the hand by Chicago Police detective Dante Servin last March in the same incident that took Boyd's life, filed an "excessive force" lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on Wednesday claiming the officer's actions were "extreme and outrageous" and "rooted in an abuse of power."

The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount in damages, claims that Cross was wrongfully prosecuted when the state leveled charges against him for aggravated assault. 

Boyd, 22, and Cross were shot near Douglas Park on the West Side by the officer, who allegedly confronted them late at night to ask them to quiet down.

According to police, Servin pulled up to the group in his car and identified himself as an officer. Cross, who has said he was talking on his cellphone at the time, allegedly approached Servin's car. 

Allegedly thinking the cell phone was a gun, Servin fired his weapon. 

"Defendant Dante Servin intentionally aimed the barrel of his firearm in plaintiff Antonio Cross' direction and fired several bullets," the lawsuit states. "One of those bullets struck Rekia Boyd in the head; another struck (Cross) in the hand."

Cross, originally accused of having a gun, was charged with aggravated assault.

But last week, a Cook County judge dismissed the charges against him. Servin, the complaining witness in the case, did not show up for the court hearing.

Following the hearing, Cross said there has been no justice for friends and family of Boyd and that Servin should be charged in her death.

"He shot his gun for no reason, and that girl lost her life," Cross said after the hearing. "I've been to jail. Be a man, accept responsibility."

While it remains unclear whether Servin will face criminal charges — the investigation by the Chicago Police Department into the shooting is still ongoing — his employer has already paid handsomely.

The Cross lawsuit comes a week after the Chicago City Council agreed to fork over $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Boyd's family.