Arlington Heights man gets 23 years for running over cop
A 37-year-old Arlington Heights man convicted of trying to run over a Chicago police officer during an early morning altercation along Chicago’s Rush Street was sentenced Tuesday to 23 years in prison.
The sentence for Michael Cacini, of the 500 block of E. Mayfair Road, includes a 20-year term for attempted murder and a consecutive three-year sentence for aggravated battery to a police officer, a Cook County state’s attorney spokeswoman said.
A jury convicted Cacini of the charges in February. He must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Authorities say Cacini became combative after officers pulled him over about 3:15 a.m. on April 20, 2010. Cacini reportedly punched one officer, grabbed his police vest and pulled him halfway into the car, then let him go and drove off, catching the man’s leg and shoulder under the rear tire. Cacini also stuck the second officer as he came to the aid of his partner, police said.
Authorities say the officers stopped Cacini’s Mercedes-Benz because they believed a drug transaction was about to unfold after they saw him pick up a man believed to be a drug dealer.