Chicago police officer says she feared using gun while being beaten

CHICAGO -- A Chicago police officer who is hospitalized after she was severely beaten said she was afraid to use her gun because of the scrutiny she would have faced, Supt. Eddie Johnson said.

On Wednesday morning, police responded to a car crash at Roosevelt and Cicero on the city's West Side where officers encountered a man that police allege was violent and under the influence of drugs.

Three officers were hospitalized in the incident. One officer who was severely beaten told Johnson she was afraid for her life and afraid to use lethal force with all of the attention on the police department's previous actions and fatal incidents.

"She thought she was going to die. She knew that she should shoot this guy, but she chose not to because she didn't want her family or the department to have to go through the scrutiny the next day on national news," Johnson said.

A nearby business captured surveillance video of the incident. The owner didn't see the incident firsthand, but saw how the incident unfolded on the surveillance video.

"It is terrible. It is total disregard for law enforcement. They put their lives forward every day for us and to see somebody do this, to pummel the police officer is terrible. It is a terrible thing," business owner Louie Rainone said.

ABC7 reached out to the Fraternal Order of Police but did not get a comment.