Updated story
The Chicago director of a group seeking to curb violence in the city has been charged with abusing his wife.
CeaseFire Illinois director Tio Hardiman was arrested Friday morning and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The incident reportedly occurred sometime late Thursday night or early Friday. Hardiman's wife filed a formal complaint Friday morning around 8 a.m. When she arrived at the police station in suburban Hillside, where the couple resides, she showed "signs of injury," Police Chief Joseph Lukaszek told the Tribune.
Hardiman entered custody about an hour after his wife pressed charges. In court Saturday, his bond was set at $20,000, according to DNAinfo Chicago. He is next due in court Tuesday, when his wife Alison is expected to ask for an order of protection.
Hardiman's CeaseFire group works to stop gang violence in Chicago using "interrupters," or mediators, who are dispatched to intercede in gang conflict and negotiate with those involved. City officials bolstered the group in September 2012 with a $1 million grant that paid to place 24 interrupters and outreach workers in the Woodlawn and North Lawndale neighborhoods, the Tribune reported.
Hardiman, who has blogged for The Huffington Post, touted the group's success to the Chicago Sun-Times in March. One example of their work: when gangs were continuously fighting at a Woodlawn liquor store, CeaseFire brokered a deal that designated one member of each gang to visit the store and buy liquor for the rest of the group, eliminating unexpected run-ins that resulted in violence.
Hardiman told the Sun-Times that he acknowledged the importance of the police and said Chicago's contribution to CeaseFire was working as an additional measure to stop gang activity.
"I will give the police credit because they are out there all the time as well. But we’re making progress," Hardiman said. "It was a good investment."
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