What happened to Elias Koteas on Chicago PD? Explained

Chicago PD is the second installment of NBC's One Chicago franchise and has been on the air since January 2014. The series focuses on the fictional 21st District of the Chicago Police Department, specifically its Intelligence Unit.

Elias Koteas played the character of Alvin Olinsky for the first five seasons of Chicago PD. The character was the right-hand man of Sgt Henry (Hank) Voight (played by Jason Beghe), who played a critical role in recruiting officers for CPD's Intelligence Unit in the series premiere. Alvin remained a prominent member of Chicago PD's Intelligence Unit throughout the early run of the series until his character met a tragic fate.

Alvin was framed for the murder of Kevin Bingham, who was known for his violent nature, and refused to snitch on the real killer, Hank. As a result, he was imprisoned. While in prison, a member of the Latin Scorpions gang killed him.

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Alvin was a founding member of Chicago PD's Intelligence Division

Alvin Olinskey joined the Chicago police after serving in the United States military's Special Response Team. He joined the Chicago PD alongside Hank and Trudy Platt and recruited new members for the Intelligence Division on Hank's behalf.

His sense of duty also overrode his own personal interests, as season 2 episode 19 showed that Alvin had already accrued his pension and was deliberately putting off his retirement.

Alvin was incredibly loyal and close to Hank throughout his time at the Chicago PD Intelligence Unit. The two always had maverick tendencies and a propensity to slip into morally grey ways of policing, and they kept each other in check throughout the series.

Alvin filled in for Hank in season 5 episode 5, when the latter was abducted by two criminals. In turn, Hank consoled the former after his daughter got murdered in season 4.

However, Alvin's undying loyalty to Hank would ultimately sow the seeds for his doom. After the latter's son was murdered by Kevin Bingham, the duo worked together to track down the murderer. However, Hank was unable to contain his anger and killed Bingham in retaliation for the murder.

Alvin knowingly helped Hank cover up his murder of Bingham in order to protect him from retaliation by Internal Affairs. However, when moving Bingham's body and burying it away from the scene of the murder, a strand of Alvin's hair fell onto the body.

This would ultimately lead to trouble when Bingham's body was exhumed in season 5, revealing Alvin's DNA during analysis. This became a crucial part of a vendetta by corrupt policeman Denny Woods, who aimed to incriminate Hank for Bingham's murder, pressuring Alvin to implicate him. However, the loyal cop refused to talk.

Denny then escalated things by bribing a civilian to fabricate an eyewitness testimony implicating Alvin as Bingham's abductor. This resulted in his arrest after he refused to disclose the truth about Bingham's death, even after his then-estranged wife, Meredith, begged him to.

Alvin willingly accepted incarceration, confident that Hank and the Intelligence Division would work out a plan to save him. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

While in prison, Alvin had a contract put out on him, which was fulfilled by a member of the Latin Scorpions gang. The mastermind behind the killing was Carlos DeLeon, who Hank hunted down and killed in a car chase.

Alvin's funeral was arranged by Meredith, who refused to allow Hank to attend, as she blamed him for her husband's death. Hank attended the funeral anyway, in secret, to pay his respects to his former right-hand man.

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Chicago PD airs on Wednesdays on NBC. Episodes are also available to stream on Peacock.