Crime & Safety
Oak Park Cop Bitten By Man Claiming to Have HIV
Trying to subdue a retail theft suspect, officer is bitten on hand.
An Oak Park man who claimed he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS has been charged with aggravated battery and criminal transmission to a police officer.
Javier Flores, 36, had been arrested Nov. 18 outside of , 417 N. Harlem Ave. after he was caught stealing clothes, police said.
Charged with retail theft, Flores was being processed for the crime at the and disclosed to officers that he was HIV-positive. As officers attempted to escort him to take a report, Flores became agitated and aggressive, police said.
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As they attempted to subdue him, Flores bit the right thumb of an officer and broke the skin, said Oak Park Police Investigations Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds. The officer was treated and released from , 3 Erie Ct., Reynolds said.
He did not disclose if the officer would undergo testing. Authorities expect the officer, who was not identified, to be safe from contracting disease, according to TribLocal.
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There is a remote risk of transmission by human bite. All documented cases where transmission did occur included severe trauma with extensive tissue damage and the presence of blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reynolds said he did not know in fact if Flores was HIV-positive.
"There was intimate contact (the bite) and that was done in a manner that could be considered transmitting the disease," Reynolds said. The statute under which Flores is being charged is posted as a PDF.
