Some guys just don't learn:
"A former Chicago police officer convicted of a bar beating seen around the world violated his probation by failing a drug test last month, Cook County prosecutors alleged Friday.
Anthony Abbate, 41, tested positive last month for opiates, prosecutors said. Circuit Judge Arthur Hill Jr. set a hearing on the allegations for March 12. Prosecutors could seek to have him imprisoned for up to five years if the judge finds he violated his probation.
Abbate, who was ordered to come to court Friday, was taken into custody on a $40,000 bail, but he was quickly released after his father posted bond, according to court records and his attorney, Peter Hickey III. Hickey declined to comment on the alleged violation.
The burly Abbate was convicted in June of aggravated battery for the 2007 off-duty beating of Karolina Obrycka, a bartender at Jesse's Short Stop Inn. The attack was caught on video and circulated on the Internet.
In a controversial decision by Circuit Judge John Fleming, Abbate was spared prison and sentenced to two years of probation. The judge also ordered treatment for alcohol abuse and counseling for anger management. The case is now before Hill because Fleming transferred to another assignment.
Jesus Reyes, acting head of the Cook County Adult Probation Department, said test results do not specify the type of opiate for which Abbate tested positive, but the test screens for opium, heroin, morphine, codeine and a number of medications.
Abbate has previously denied substance-abuse problems, according to court records.
Last month, Abbate filed a lawsuit challenging his firing by the Chicago Police Board a month earlier. A suit by Obrycka is pending in federal court." - Chicago Tribune reporter Matt Walberg
