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It was a chaotic, frantic scene at Stroger Hospital.
A convicted murderer was being treated for a skin disorder when he pulled out a shank, stabbed a guard in the neck, wrestled him for his gun, and fled down the hall. He hijacked a shuttle bus before being stopped.
Cook County Correctional Officer Vito Zaccaro lost blood from the stab wound on his neck. But he never gave up his 9mm handgun and gave chase until he helped to stop Willis Reese's escape attempt.
Now, two months later, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's office has told Zaccaro he can't prove his injuries happened while he was on duty. Officials are denying his request for duty-related injury benefits.
Additionally, Stroger Hospital officials have sent the 19-year officer a $3,750 medical bill for the emergency services he received that day.
"I'm flabbergasted," Zaccaro said. "What do I have to do for them to believe I was working? Get killed?"
Stroger spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi said because Zaccaro has a claim for compensation pending, she can't comment on his case.
The letter from Stroger's office denying him benefits doesn't explain, either.
Zaccaro's attorney, James Marszalek, said "it's shocking he's being treated like this."
"This guy was a hero," he said. "Now they're jacking him around."
Sheriff Tom Dart visited Zaccaro in the ER that day and vowed to do all he could to help his family, but the decision to provide benefits is out of his hands, officials said.
And while the injury to Zaccaro's neck has healed, he continues to have to take shots for Hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases because investigators believe Reese hid the weapon in his rectum.
Reese was using the bathroom in the moments before the attack, Zaccaro said, and -- following protocol -- his handcuffs were removed.
Zaccaro said he expects to go back to work in June. But as the sole provider for himself and his wife of 16 years, Mary, he hasn't had a paycheck in two months. With the denial of benefits from Stroger's office, he says he doesn't know how he'll pay the mounting bills at home.
But he did have an answer for those who sent him a hospital bill.
"I sent it back to them with a note," he said. " 'Keep dreaming.' "
A convicted murderer was being treated for a skin disorder when he pulled out a shank, stabbed a guard in the neck, wrestled him for his gun, and fled down the hall. He hijacked a shuttle bus before being stopped.
Cook County Correctional Officer Vito Zaccaro lost blood from the stab wound on his neck. But he never gave up his 9mm handgun and gave chase until he helped to stop Willis Reese's escape attempt.
Now, two months later, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's office has told Zaccaro he can't prove his injuries happened while he was on duty. Officials are denying his request for duty-related injury benefits.
Additionally, Stroger Hospital officials have sent the 19-year officer a $3,750 medical bill for the emergency services he received that day.
"I'm flabbergasted," Zaccaro said. "What do I have to do for them to believe I was working? Get killed?"
Stroger spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi said because Zaccaro has a claim for compensation pending, she can't comment on his case.
The letter from Stroger's office denying him benefits doesn't explain, either.
Zaccaro's attorney, James Marszalek, said "it's shocking he's being treated like this."
"This guy was a hero," he said. "Now they're jacking him around."
Sheriff Tom Dart visited Zaccaro in the ER that day and vowed to do all he could to help his family, but the decision to provide benefits is out of his hands, officials said.
And while the injury to Zaccaro's neck has healed, he continues to have to take shots for Hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases because investigators believe Reese hid the weapon in his rectum.
Reese was using the bathroom in the moments before the attack, Zaccaro said, and -- following protocol -- his handcuffs were removed.
Zaccaro said he expects to go back to work in June. But as the sole provider for himself and his wife of 16 years, Mary, he hasn't had a paycheck in two months. With the denial of benefits from Stroger's office, he says he doesn't know how he'll pay the mounting bills at home.
But he did have an answer for those who sent him a hospital bill.
"I sent it back to them with a note," he said. " 'Keep dreaming.' "
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