Harvey officials say the Cook County state’s attorney’s office is dropping a felony charge of aggravated battery to a police officer filed against Ald. Colby Chapman, and Harvey’s police chief is criticizing the decision.

Chapman was due to be at the Markham courthouse Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on the charge, filed early last month.

She was charged with the felony a day after misdemeanor charges were dropped against her by the state’s attorney’s office.

Chapman had been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer brought against her following a City Council meeting April 28. Chapman was ordered removed from the meeting by Mayor Christopher Clark.

Neither Chapman nor her attorney responded to messages Tuesday seeking confirmation of the city’s statement, and a message left with the state’s attorney’s office was not returned.

Chief Cameron Biddings said in a statement Monday the felony case against Chapman was due to be reviewed by a Cook County grand jury on Tuesday.

He said police were informed July 2 “by the court supervisor that ‘higher authorities’ decided to drop all charges, felony and misdemeanor, with no further details provided.”

“I am disappointed and concerned by the state’s attorney’s decision to drop felony charges against Alderwoman Chapman without so much as a grand jury hearing, despite the clear evidence that she struck a Harvey police officer while resisting lawful orders,” Biddings said.

“This abrupt reversal, after our officers spent weeks preparing for a lawful prosecution, feels like a waste of time, resources, and taxpayer dollars — a cycle of arrest, dismissal, and silence that amounts to political theater at the expense of real justice,” he said.

At a June 4 court hearing on the misdemeanor charges, prosecutors said charges were being dropped against Chapman and her mother, who was also arrested and charged after the April 28 council meeting.

Biddings said Harvey detectives were instructed May 22 by the state’s attorney’s office to rearrest Chapman on her June 4 court date to upgrade her charges to felony battery.

“When she appeared via Zoom and could not be taken into custody, we were instructed to dismiss the misdemeanor charges and proceed with the felony case, which was scheduled for a grand jury review on July 8,” the chief said.

Chapman turned herself in June 5 at Harvey’s police station after being told a felony aggravated battery charge had been brought against her.

Chapman said several police vehicles were posted outside of her home that day and said an officer informed her she would later be arrested.

The alderwoman called for her supporters to come to City Hall ahead of the planned council meeting that evening, where she announced she would run to succeed Clark as mayor in 2027.

According to the initial charging document in her felony case, Chapman, at some point after being removed from the April council meeting “pushed” a Harvey police detective “to prevent the performance of his official duties.”

In a video recorded during the April 28 meeting by Ryan Sinwelski, an activist with the Harvey Historical Society, Clark is heard ordering police to remove the alderwoman.

A uniformed officer approached Chapman and appears to try to remove her from her council seat near the mayor, but Chapman appears to resist as she gathers up paperwork.

The audio on the recording is not clear, but at least three police officers direct Chapman toward the glass doors of the council room. The video shows her placing her hands on both sides of the door frame to resist being led out.

After Chapman and police went into a lobby area outside the council room, a loud exchange is heard with Clark at one point excusing himself from the meeting to step out of the council chambers.

Chapman was previously arrested in October on charges of filing a false police report related to an August dispute with Corean Davis, Harvey city administrator. Charges were not prosecuted in the matter.