Chicago police officer involved in Dexter Reed shooting accused of threatening detective at NW Side bar
One of the Chicago police officers who fatally shot Dexter Reed during a traffic stop in 2024 has now been accused of threatening to beat up a fellow cop at a Norwood Park bar over the weekend.
Thomas Spanos, who fired 34 rounds and reloaded his weapon during the deadly gunfight with Reed, approached a group of men early Saturday at Tommy’s on Higgins and tried to pick a fight, according to a police report. Spanos was flanked by another officer, Nicholas Prozanski, and two other people.
Police said the threats stemmed from a “previous incident” at the bar about a week earlier, and the detective who was accosted was listed as the victim in the report.
“I’m going to beat your a--,” the “offenders” were quoted as saying in the report. “Let’s go I will fight you. I know where you and your family live.”
When both groups exited the bar, 6954 W. Higgins Ave., Spanos, Prozanski and the two others “started jumping up and down as if they were wanting to fight,” the report states. The detective then called 911.
The police department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs and the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability have opened investigations into the allegations. Spanos and Prozanski remain on active duty, a police spokesperson said.
An attorney for Spanos said he hadn't been informed of the new allegations. Spanos and Prozanski couldn't immediately be reached.
Spanos was one of four officers who opened fire when Reed shot another cop in the hand during a traffic stop in Humboldt Park in March 2024. Spanos and three other members of the Harrison District tactical team fired a total of 96 shots at Reed in less than a minute — striking him 13 times and leaving him dead.
Spanos was the last officer to stop shooting, firing at Reed six seconds after he’d exited his SUV and fallen to the ground, according to a report by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke ultimately declined to file criminal charges against the officers, finding they were in reasonable fear for their lives.
Reed’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, alleging officers unlawfully pulled over his SUV and were “outrageously” aggressive as they approached him. The City Council’s Finance Committee rejected a deal to settle the case for $1.25 million last year.
COPA’s investigation into the shooting has been closed, but the findings haven't been released.
The agency has found that Spanos and other officers who pulled over Reed stopped and searched two other drivers without justification weeks before the fatal shooting. Police Supt. Larry Snelling agreed with COPA’s recommendation that Spanos receive up to a 30-day suspension in each case. The oversight agency recommended the same level of discipline when investigators found Spanos was previously involved in another improper stop a year earlier.