Wake Up With Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Officer Of The Month Tim Kroski

(Photo Credit: Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times)

Sun Times – Prying open the doors of a CTA train, surprisingly, isn’t super hard. That’s according to Chicago Police Officer Tim Kroski, who did just that in order to grab a gunman who’d just robbed a woman in the Lake View neighborhood late last month. After learning the gunman ran toward the Belmont Red Line station, Kroski hustled up to the platform and began looking through windows of a stopped train until he saw a man who matched the description of the robber. But the train doors had just shut. “There wasn’t much resistance, and as soon as I got the doors open he was standing there and I was able to just grab ahold of his arms and walk him off the train,” Kroski said Tuesday during an awards ceremony at Chicago Patrolmen’s Federal Credit Union.

Kroski, who grew up in Edison Park and graduated from St. Patrick High School before attending Northeastern Illinois University, was presented the award by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. Kroski, 28, said he wasn’t afraid. “I don’t want to sound like I’m super tough or anything, but I was so focused on apprehending him that it kind of set the fear aside for a little bit,” he said. A gun found in the man’s waistband was later determined to be a replica, something that neither the robbery victim nor Kroski knew until after the fact. Kroski’s wife, Jane, who’s due with the couple’s first child, a boy, in April, said Tuesday that she trusts her husband’s instincts and tries not worry. “Of course it’s scary, but I try to put that in the back of my mind because I know that he’s a very smart man, so I know that he can get the job done. I just pray for him and his fellow officers every day,” she said.

Be more Chicago than Tim Kroski trick question you absolutely cannot. A proud member of Chicago’s Finest. A descendent of the great St. Patrick Shamrocks. Probably going to Emerald Island this weekend to have a couple pops with the boys. First name: one syllable. Last name: one of those short Polish ones that got hacked to pieces at Ellis Island when his great grandpa couldn’t say two words of English. At this point we’re just waiting to find out he’s allergic to ketchup.

Anyways, congratulations to Officer Kroski on the award. CPD Blue Shirts do some of the hardest work this city has to offer. In this case, we’re talking about a guy who cut his teeth in law enforcement in Chicago’s Department of Aviation before getting the call up to the big leagues in June 2016. And since then we’re already seeing high impact plays across the board. You love his development long-term for the City of Chicago and hope ownership finds room in the budget to sign him long term.

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PS – I would buy a Kroski Bears jersey. That name was made for a football jersey.