Ex-Chicago Cop Faces Felony Charges for Gay Bar Fight

A judge said the beating of two gay men "shocks the conscience" and now a former Chicago police sergeant has been charged.

Eric Elkins faces aggrevated battery charges in a September 29, 2018 attack at a gay bar last year, according to the Associated Press. Officials say Elkins was off-duty with friends when he allegedly beat two gay men so badly that they were hospitalized.

Another man named Giovanni Rodriguez who was with Elkins at the bar faces similar charges.

A Cook County judge set bond on Tuesday for Elkins at $250,000 and $50,000 for Rodriguez. Both men pleaded not guilty and deny any wrongdoing.

On the night of the incident, Elkins was at @tmosphere bar in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago with Rodriguez. They got into a fight with another group of men around 11 p.m. that night, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

Minutes later outside of the bar, the men hit John Sherwood and two other men who tried to intervene in the melee, according to prosecutors. The attack left one man's leg broken and another with fractured orbital bones that left him hospitalized.

Elkins and Rodriguez were apprehended by local police after running away from the incident and were later identified when victims were presented with a photo line-up.

Elkins resigned from the Chicago Police Department earlier this year in the wake of the attack. And if he can post bail, he will be able to return to his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as he awaits trial.

Prior to this incident, Elkins faced criminal sexual conduct charges involving a Michigan teenager in 2016. The case was dropped after Elkins pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.