Tamika Gross
A city police officer was arrested last week for allegedly encouraging her children to engage in fights in the Northeast.
The district attorney’s office said Tamika Gross, an officer in the 16th District, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person after surrendering to the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit on June 24.
According to the DA, Gross was involved in three incidents that took place between January 2012 and October 2013 in which she encouraged or participated in altercations involving her children.
In a June 24 news release, the district attorney’s office stated:
• Gross, 35, encouraged her 18-year-old son to fight another teen while they were walking on the 900 block of Marcella Street on Jan. 25, 2012. Several other fights broke out on the block and many calls were made to 911, including one that stated an officer needed assistance. That officer was Gross.
• On March 16, 2012, Gross encouraged her daughter to fight two other teenaged girls on Loretto Avenue near Sanger Street. Gross reportedly kept screaming during the fight that she was an off-duty police officer and that no one would be arrested.
• On Oct. 23, Gross and her daughter approached a teenaged girl near Lincoln High School. The officer’s daughter challenged the girl to fight, and Gross encouraged the girls to fight. Gross was captured on a cellphone video standing in the crowd of people watching the girls fight. The teen reported Gross punched her in the eye twice.
According to police, Gross has served on the force for seven years. She was suspended with intention she’ll be fired by Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. ••
