OAN’s Brooke Mallory
Thursday, May 30, 2024 5:08 PM
A judge on Wednesday accepted the defense’s “insanity” argument and acquitted a woman accused of assaulting a Chicago police officer, stealing his patrol car and dragging the officer naked.
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Whitley Temple, 35, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on four charges, including two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle, during a bench trial in April, denied by Cook County Judge Tyria Walton.
She reportedly fled in a stolen police car and then crashed into four other vehicles.
As a result of the sentence, Temple is now free to go home but will need to return to court to meet with a mental health professional to discuss a treatment plan.
Temple’s defense team argued in bench trial that his client was “in a mentally unstable state” at the time of the incident in 2022 and that the case was a “classic insanity case.” On Wednesday, both sides made closing arguments before the verdict was announced.
According to CBS News, “On June 13, 2022, Chicago Police Officer Edward Popish found Temple naked on the street in West Garfield Park, then stole his patrol car, ran him over with his SUV and dragged him, fleeing the scene at up to 90 miles per hour on the Kennedy Expressway, crashing into four vehicles at Harrison Street and Damen Avenue on the west side of the Illinois Medical District.”
One of Temple’s lawyers argued that his client was in a “psychotic state” during the incident and had been worried about his family for days. He said Temple had “delusional beliefs” that “someone was trying to kill the women in her family and that she was being pursued.” She also mistakenly believed that she had been sexually assaulted by a police officer.
Popish, a 23-year police officer whose vehicle was stolen, said he was seriously injured after being dragged and suffered a concussion, including a large head wound that required stitches, according to reports.
Temple was hired this year as the chief accountant for the Chicago Department of Family and Supportive Services, but it is unclear whether she is still employed or has been fired.
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