Former Chicago cop charged with fleeing after arrest

CHICAGO (AP) - A former Chicago police sergeant who was arrested 14 years after he fled rather than face drug and conspiracy charges now faces another charge against him: Failing to appear in court.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a federal grand jury added the charge to the list of charges against 68-year-old Eddie Hicks.

Hicks was the alleged ringleader of a crew of five men that posed as federal drug agents to shake down drug dealers for cash and narcotics in the 1990s. The indictment said that Hicks and his co-defendants also staged traffic-stop robberies, dealt drugs and used unmarked police cars for transportation.

He was arrested after his 2000 retirement and fled in 2003 when he was due to stand trial. He was captured two months ago in Detroit.