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Fallen Chicago officer gets street named in his honor

A 20-year veteran of the force, Michael Flisk became the fifth Chicago Police officer killed in the line of duty in 2010, the department’s deadliest since 1984

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Officer Michael Flisk became the fifth Chicago police to be killed in the deadliest line of duty deaths since 1984

Photo/ Public Safety Street sign: Frederick County via .gov

By Mike Nolan
The Daily Southtown, Tinley Park, Ill.

CHICAGO — Standing beneath a sign designating a section of a street in Chicago’s Beverly community in honor of her late husband, Chicago Police Officer Michael Flisk, Nora Flisk described him as “an extraordinary police officer.”

She stood with family members, including the couple’s four children, as dozens of police officers and firefighters clustered around the intersection of Artesian Avenue and 100th Street, steps from the Flisk family home, for Sunday’s unveiling of a street sign designating part of Artesian as honorary “Officer Michael Flisk Avenue.”

An evidence technician, the 46-year-old was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 26, 2010, while processing the scene of a vehicle burglary in the South Chicago community. He and the vehicle’s owner, Stephen Peters, were shot and killed by a man who at the time had recently been paroled for armed robbery, and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for the murders.

Joe Ahern, chief executive of the 100 Club of Chicago and friend of the Flisk family, called the officer’s death a “senseless act of violence,” and that “our entire city mourned” his loss. The organization provides financial and other assistance for the families of first-responders who die in the line of duty.

“Mike was a good man,” Ahern said.

A 20-year veteran of the force, Flisk became the fifth Chicago Police officer killed in the line of duty that year, which was the department’s deadliest since 1984. A sixth officer in 2010 was killed while off-duty.

Phil Cline, former Chicago Police Superintendent and now executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, said that Flisk “died doing a job he loved,” and that he was a “remarkable person.”

“Mike, we will never forget you or your family,” he said.

Nora Flisk recalled that on her second date with Michael he announced to her his plans to be a Chicago police officer. He asked whether that was okay with her, but, she suggested to those in attendance Sunday, it was asked in a way that had she had a problem with his career path, they might not get past the second date.

Three of Michael Flisk’s siblings have served on the Chicago police force for more than 20 years, according to the family. One of Flisk’s sisters, Maureen, is a patrol officer, while another sister Margaret, and a brother, Timothy, are sergeants with the department.

Michael Flisk’s oldest son is a Chicago firefighter while another, Brian, recently entered the police academy. A daughter, Margaret “Peg” Flisk, is a prosecutor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and another son, Tim, is a union engineer.

After the unveiling of the honorary street sign and before Nora Flisk spoke, the Flisk family held and comforted one another as the Bagpipes & Drums of the Emerald Society performed “Amazing Grace.”

Flisk’s star, No. 6962, was retired in August 2011 during a ceremony at Chicago Police headquarters, and, two years after his death, his family dedicated a shrine in his honor for police officers and firefighters at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, where Flisk’s funeral had taken place.

In August 2012, Flisk was posthumously awarded the Illinois Law Enforcement Medal of Honor by the Illinois State Police.

On the day he and Flisk were killed, Peters, 44, a former Chicago Housing Authority police officer, had called police after his Mustang GT had been stripped of its stereo.

A 19-year-old who was on parole after an armed robbery conviction, Timothy Herring Jr., was convicted of the murders and, in June 2015, sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said Herring gunned down Flisk and Peters — shooting both twice in the head — to avoid going back to prison for burglarizing the vehicle.

Peters was a U.S. Army veteran who at the time of his death worked as a lineman for AT&T.

Peters found missing items from the car, including a speaker, in garbage bins outside the garage behind his mother’s home in the 8100 block of South Burnham Avenue, according to evidence presented at Herring’s trial.

He told his mother and a neighbor he would wait for the burglar to return for the stolen items, and brought his handgun with him, evidence showed.

Flisk arrived in his marked squad car a short time later and began dusting the Mustang for prints. Herring, who lived nearby, returned to the alley garage where the officer and Peters were and said he could help identify the thief, but Peters told him it didn’t matter because Flisk had recovered a good print off the car.

Herring then turned as if to walk away, but then spun around and shot each man in the head, prosecutors said during the trial. When he saw one of the men moving, he shot both in the head a second time.

Herring was wearing an electronic ankle monitor at the time after serving half of a six-year prison sentence for the 2007 armed robbery of a liquor store, according to authorities.

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©2018 The Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Ill.)

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