Now, the family is focusing on raising money to help support the injured officer. For Officer Crespo, the path to recovery may be long. But the support surrounding him is far from short.
"He just makes friends wherever he goes. He's just he's just a great guy," said Nancy Crespo, the officer's sister.
Nancy said doctors told their family that her brother is showing progress.
"He's still in the ICU and he is able to breathe on his own now for eight hours at a time. The doctor wants him to exercise his diaphragm, and he is improving each day," she said.
Last month, the 57-year-old was shot in the line duty after he and his partner, CPD Officer John Bartholomew, had transported a robbery suspect to Swedish Hospital for an exam.
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"Just complete shock. You don't even, you know, there's that there's always that risk with law enforcement. But you just you never think about, you don't want to think about the absolute worst-case scenario," Nancy said.
The shooting killed Officer Bartholomew and left Officer Crespo critically injured.
"Currently, he has limited mobility in his arms and no mobility in his legs. But we are remaining hopeful," Nancy said.
Nancy says their family is rallying around the 21-year CPD veteran, lifelong Chicagoan, and doting uncle by raising money for his medical and future expenses so he can get back behind the grill and tell jokes.
"We still don't know what, how long it will last. We don't know what portion insurance will cover. Long term, we may need to make modifications to his house. So, I mean, there's still a lot of uncertainty," Nancy said.
There is a lot of uncertainty, but also, a lot of hope. If you would like to help support Officer Crespo and his family, you can visit their GoFundMe page.