CHICAGO — Chuck Barango survived a brain tumor and returned to work as a Chicago Police officer, only to be injured in a crash while chasing suspects, according to his partner on the force.
Barango was to return once again to the force Monday, the day after he was fatally struck by a driver while riding his motorcycle early Sunday.
"He couldn't wait to get back," said Pat Thiry, a Chicago Police officer who was Barango's partner before Barango joined the district's SWAT team. "He was the best guy you could ever meet."
Barango, 49, had exited the Stevenson Expy. at Central Avenue when at around 2:05 a.m. Sunday a driver ran through a red light and hit Barango's motorcycle. Barango was wearing a helmet at the time, reports say.
He was pronounced dead at 2:58 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Barango, of the 5700 block of West 63rd St., was a 14-year veteran of the department, working with the Calumet District's tactical team, Supt. Eddie Johnson said at an unrelated news conference Sunday.
"My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the officer," Johnson said.
Thiry described Barango as a model citizen and officer who took his job seriously. The pair worked in Englewood before being assigned to a saturation team that responds to areas dealing with gun violence.
"He was so experienced and knowledgeable," Thiry said. "I learned a lot from him."
Barango was described as a very friendly and loyal person. When Thiry once said he had to install a koi pond at his mom's house one weekend, Barango immediately asked where she lived and when to be there.
He also displayed that friendliness on the force, Thiry said. When the pair would encounter shirtless, buff guys in the street, Barango would often challenge them to a friendly push-up contest.
"The way he carried himself as a person, he carried himself as an officer, too," Barango said.
Barango survived a brain tumor that threatened his vision. The surgeon who operated on Barango five years ago told the Sun-Times that Barango wanted to get back on the force and was proud to be an officer.
He did return to the force, but less than a year ago, Barango was injured in a car accident while on duty, Thiry said. He said a car that Barango and officers were chasing ended up hitting his squad car.
"It was pretty bad," Thiry said.
In the interim, Barango worked as a consultant for the NBC show "Chicago P.D." He consulted the show on SWAT situations, said the casting company that works with the show, which posted video of Barango working with the cast.
"He was a man that any bad guy would be worried to cross, but we knew him as a truly warm-hearted teddy bear," the company wrote on Facebook.
Monday was to be Barango's first day back on the job, his old partner said.
Instead, his family, friends and the department is mourning the loss of a beloved officer. Barango is survived by two adult daughters, Thiry said.
"He was such a smart, cautious, healthy guy. He is probably the only guy out on a Harley with a helmet on," Thiry said.
"Everything he did was so calculated and smart," he said. "It's just — wow, you can't believe it."
Charges are pending against the driver who hit Barango, according to reports. The Forest View Police Department is investigating the crash.
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