FILE – In this Friday, Jan. 18, 2019 file photo, Tiffany Van Dyke, wife of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, attends his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, in Chicago, for the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Tiffany Van Dyke said Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, that Jason Van Dyke had been placed in a Connecticut prison’s general population before being assaulted. Van Dyke had been kept out of the Illinois jail’s general population. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald was assaulted by inmates in his cell at a Connecticut prison, the officer’s wife said Wednesday.
Jason Van Dyke was transferred earlier this month to a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. He was placed in the prison’s general population hours after his arrival and was assaulted there, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“We are all petrified and in fear for Jason’s life,” his wife, Tiffany Van Dyke, told the newspaper. “Jason just wants to serve his sentence. He does not want any trouble. I hope prison officials will take steps to rectify this right away. He never should have been in the general population.”
Details of the incident weren’t immediately clear. A spokesperson for the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury wasn’t available for comment when The Associated Press called on Wednesday night.
A Cook County, Illinois, jury in October found Jason Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for the 2014 killing of McDonald, who was shot 16 times. In January, Van Dyke was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison.
Prosecutors on Monday asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review the sentence. They said they believe Judge Vincent Gaughan improperly applied the law when sentencing Van Dyke.
Absent a new sentence, Van Dyke will likely serve only about three years, with credit for good behavior.
Van Dyke was being held at the Rock Island County Jail in Rock Island, Illinois, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Chicago, before the move to the low-security Connecticut prison. County authorities said he was kept out of the Illinois jail’s general population.
© Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
