Janusz Kopycinski Charged With Felonies After Allegedly Spitting On, Swearing At Mayor Daley

A man who police say yelled "F*** the mayor" at outgoing Chicago mayor Richard Daley, then spat in the mayor's general direction, is now facing felony charges relating to the incident.

The charges against Janusz Kopycinski were upgraded from misdemeanor resisting arrest to aggravated battery to a police officer at a hearing on Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

After reportedly seen spitting at the mayor, police approached Kopycinski, who then is said to have continued directing obscenities at the mayor and the police. Officers asked him to produce some identification, at which point he turned and fled the scene. They gave chase, and in the pursuit, one of them was grazed by a CTA bus, receiving minor abrasions on the knee and elbow.

Those abrasions gave rise to the charges against Kopycinski. And on Friday, Judge Israel Desierto upgraded the charges, setting bail at $100,000, in part because of Mr. Kopycinski's previous history of altercations with the police. As the Chicago Sun-Times writes, he was charged in 2007 with another case of police battery, and found guilty but mentally ill.