As I write this in early November 2023, an Illinois State Police trooper is facing a long road to recover from what can only be described as a savage attack.
The trooper’s name is Dakotah Chapman-Green. But everybody who knows him reportedly calls him “Kody.” I don’t know Kody, but I’m going to presume to use that nickname. I’m going to do that because this is not an official report or even a news article. It’s the story of a badly injured young man and his aspiration to return to the profession he loves.
At press time Kody is healing after being shot and pistol-whipped during a traffic stop. More about that in a minute. But this is Kody’s story and Kody’s story begins long before he was attacked on a cool October night.
At a press conference a week after the attack. Kody’s mother Kris Chapman-Green told part of his story. In an era when so few Americans want to serve in law enforcement, Kody dedicated his life to becoming a peace officer. “Kody wanted to be a police officer since he was in junior high school. He wants to make a difference,” she said.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2023, Trooper Dakotah “Kody” Chapman-Green was working to make a difference by patrolling the streets of Springfield. For reasons that have not been disclosed Kody decided to pull over a sedan. The driver was later identified by law enforcement as Christobal Santana, 37, of Chicago.
Santana was at the time a person of interest in the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. But from footage released by ISP and captured from the video system in the trooper’s patrol vehicle, it does not appear that Kody was aware of this threat as he approached the passenger side of the vehicle and spoke with the driver. There is no sound on the video, so we can’t hear the conversation, but Kody does not appear anxious and his weapon is not drawn.
That changed very quickly. The video shows the driver exit his vehicle with a semi-automatic pistol in his right hand held against his leg. Kody immediately recognized the danger and started to retreat from the vehicle and to draw his service weapon as the driver opening fire across the roof of the sedan.
Kody shot back, according to ISP Director Brendan Kelly. But we don’t see that because he has left the in-car camera’s view. What we do see is the suspect ducking down behind the sedan apparently to dodge incoming fire. Then he springs up and shoots multiple times, and chases after Kody.
A surveillance camera caught the now wounded trooper and the suspect running across the parking lot of what looks like a small business. What happened next happened off camera, or the video has not been released.
What is known is that Kody suffered gunshot wounds on at least one of his legs. And somehow the suspect got close enough to Kody to beat him with an empty handgun, inflicting serious facial injuries. The suspect then fled the scene, presumably leaving Kody for dead.
But that’s not how the story ends. Somehow, even though he was grievously injured, Kody summoned the will to do what was necessary to survive. And with the aid of Good Samaritan civilians, a police officer from the University of Illinois at Springfield who put a tourniquet on his hemorrhaging leg, fellow state troopers, and other law enforcement and first responders, he made it to a trauma center and has made a remarkable recovery.
The suspect was captured a few hours later by joint effort of local and state law enforcement. Having ditched his vehicle, he was running away from officers when a trooper arriving on the scene hit him with his patrol vehicle, ending the chase. After he got out of the hospital, he was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and a variety of felonies. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. At presstime he was also still a person of interest in that Chicago murder.
But that’s enough about the suspect. This is Kody’s story.
After two weeks in the hospital, Kody went home. He went home in a wheelchair, but in a good spirits, giving a thumbs up in the video the state police posted on Facebook. His family says he is recovering day to day.
Kody’s family, including his state police family, believe there is no doubt he will fully recover. “He’s got the heart of a trooper,” Director Kelly said during that late October press conference.
Kody’s father Jim Green added: “He loves being a trooper, and he’ll never quit being a trooper. He has one speed and that’s go.”
But as with many young men, Kody’s mother knows his story best, and she summed up his desire to recover and get back on the job with these words to the people of Illinois: “He cannot wait to come back to work so he can protect all of you.”
Thankfully, Kody’s story will be continued.
