A Chicago police officer who once talked openly about trading his badge for a UFC contract is now facing dismissal from the department after the city's police oversight agency concluded he raped his teenage girlfriend twice within a matter of weeks in 2019. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability found that Officer Alberto Rodriguez's conduct was egregious, caused physical and emotional harm, and discredited the department he serves.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, COPA determined that Rodriguez raped the woman on Aug. 5, 2019, and again on Aug. 23, 2019. Superintendent Larry Snelling agreed with COPA's findings related to the alleged assaults and has since initiated a criminal investigation into the allegations, the outlet reported. Rodriguez remains stripped of his police powers and has been assigned to the department's Alternate Response Section while the process moves forward.
How the Relationship Turned Abusive
Rodriguez and the woman first began talking after meeting around July 2018 at her 18th birthday party, and he reportedly knew her brother from an MMA gym, per the same account. By spring 2019 the two were in a relationship, but that relationship became abusive, the outlet reported.
On Aug. 5, 2019, Rodriguez went to dinner with the woman before the two returned to his apartment, according to the report. Rodriguez allegedly would not let her leave, took her keys, and pushed her against a wall, telling her she would get used to the abuse, the station's account states. The woman had been scheduled to leave for a weekslong trip to Mexico the following day, Aug. 6, 2019.
A Second Alleged Assault and a Rescue in Wicker Park
Weeks later, on Aug. 23, 2019, Rodriguez bought the woman cocktails and drove her to his home, where COPA found he raped her a second time, per the same account. The woman was underage at the time of that encounter, according to the report, while the account separately notes she was 19 years old in August 2019. She was held against her will at Rodriguez's home before she was able to call her mother to come pick her up in Wicker Park, the outlet reported.
Chicago police showed up at Rodriguez's apartment and rescued the woman from his home that August, according to the report. Rodriguez initially refused to open the apartment door, but his father, who lived in the unit downstairs, provided officers with a key, the account states. Police then handcuffed and questioned Rodriguez, though he was not arrested at that time, per the same account.
COPA's Findings and the Department's Response
COPA wrote that Officer Rodriguez's actions caused physical and emotional harm and discredited the department, and the agency separately stated that sexual assault and physical abuse cannot and should not be tolerated by the department, according to the report. COPA also found that Rodriguez's version of events was not credible, the outlet reported. The agency released a report about the alleged assaults and called for his firing.
Rodriguez is described in the report as a Chicago police officer and mixed martial arts fighter who had built a professional fighting record of 3-1 by February 2022. He reportedly said he would keep his police job if he got into the UFC, which the report describes as the country's premier mixed martial arts organization, planning to stay on the force even if called up to the promotion.
Broader Struggles With Police Discipline Cases
The path from a COPA firing recommendation to an actual dismissal in Chicago has not always been swift. A 2022 report from WBEZ found that police firing cases have languished in the city's Law Department, and it referenced an effort by then-Superintendent David Brown to derail a separate COPA dismissal recommendation. It is not established whether Rodriguez's case will follow a similar path.
