Chicago police union president faces more CPD charges, including filing false police reports

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are new charges against Chicago police union president John Catanzara, including allegations he filed a false police report about then-CPD superintendent Eddie Johnson.

In documents made public Wednesday, the new charge alleges on July 12, 2018, Catanzara filed a false police report against former Supt. Johnson after he took part in an anti-violence march on the Dan Ryan Expressway. The charge also alleges Catanzara falsely listed himself as a district station supervisor on the report, even though he had not been assigned to the march.

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A second charge alleges Catanzara filed another false police report in November 2018, this time against Commander Ronald Pontecore, Jr., for "Interference with Public Officer, Obstructing Justice." The charge alleges Catanzara also falsely listed himself as a district station supervisor in that report.

Catanzara is already facing the possibility of losing his job as a Chicago police officer after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended he be fired for social media posts. The documents made by the Chicago Police Board Wednesday list 16 different social media posts, all with their own rule violation charges.

The initial status hearing for Catanzara's case is scheduled for Feb. 23. ABC7 Eyewitness News reached out to Catanzara, who said he has no comment on the new allegations.

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Calls for Catanzara to lose his job intensified after he made public statements supporting the violent mob of Trump supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol and staged a violent insurrection, causing Congress to be on lockdown for hours as they tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

At the time, Catanzara told Chicago radio station WBEZ "There was no arson, there was no burning of anything, there was no looting, there was very little destruction of property," and continued, "Evidence matters... Until that appears, shame on them for what they did, but it was out of frustration. There's no fights. There's no, obviously, violence in this crowd. They pushed past security and made their way to the Senate chamber. Did they destroy anything when they were there? No."

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Within a couple days he had apologized, saying his comments to WBEZ were "poorly worded."

Please note: The video in the player at the top of this story is from a previous report