Archive for police brutality lawsuit

Lawsuit Filed Against Chicago Cop Who Allegedly Beat Mentally Disabled Teen

Recently, a lawsuit was filed against a veteran Chicago police officer who allegedly beat a mentally disabled teen. The lawsuit accuses the police officer of sticking a gun in the teen’s mouth and then filing a fake police report to cover up the incident. Both the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Independent Police Review Authority are investigating the incident, which allegedly occurred in September 2015.

While heading home from school, Nathaniel Taylor crossed onto Jackson’s lawn. Jackson, the Chicago police officer and veteran of the force, became angry and beat the 18-year-old boy with his fists and stuck his revolver into the boy’s mouth. This attack caused a number richard-drovark-quoteof lacerations, according to the lawsuit.

Taylor, who possesses an IQ of 44, was sent to Mount Sinai Hospital for Treatment, and then arrested on charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. According to the lawsuit, Taylor experienced severe emotional trauma due to spending a week behind bars under electronic monitoring.

Richard Drovark, the attorney representing the legal guardian and aunt of Taylor, provided photographs that seem to depict Taylor’s blood splattered on the sidewalk outside Jackson’s home. There are also photographs of Taylor with a fat lip, a bloodied nose, and blood stains on his school uniform.

According to Dvorak, the severe mental impairment Taylor suffers makes Jackson’s actions even more traumatic and tragic. Dvorak said, “He’s not someone who should be subjected to this kind of treatement.” The attorney accuses Jackson of placing felony charges against Taylor to cover up his own actions.

In a police report, Jackson filed a police report claiming that Taylor had tried to enter his home at 1200 block of South Albany Avenue. Jackson claims he opened the door and informed Taylor that he was a police officer. The police officer claims that Taylor tried to run, but Jackson managed to catch him and a “struggle ensued.” Jackson accuses Taylor of trying to grab his gun, which is when the gun “made contact with the face and mouth area” of Taylor, allegedly.

In April, the aggravated battery charge against Taylor was dropped and Taylor pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor trespassing, according to court records.

 

Lawsuit: Woman alleges she miscarried after cops battered her during arrest

A woman from Mariners Harbor filed a lawsuit against the city and four police officers. She claims that these police officers battered her during an arrest in her home about 15 months ago. The woman alleges that she told the police officers prior to the battery that she was carrying a child.  According to the woman, this incident caused her to miscarry and lose her child.

The complaint says that the incident occurred at about 1:45 p.m. Emelda Fitzroy alleges in the suit filed in a Brooklyn federal court that the police officers struck her repeatedly in the stomach. She also claims that the police officers stepped on her and threw her to the floor of her home. The police officers then approached Fitzroy, forcibly grabbed her, and arrested her without offering any legal justification.

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In the complaint, Fitzroy claims that the injuries she sustained at the hands of the cops led to the miscarriage. In the complaint, she does not mention how many months pregnant she was. On November 3, 2014, she was released after 26 hours of being incarcerated.

In the lawsuit, Fitzroy does not note why the police officers went to her home. However, the suit does note that she was arrested on charges of misdemeanor assault, resisting arrest, harassment, and obstructing governmental administration. Fitzroy hired a lawyer and went to court several times to fight these charges. These charges against Fitzroy were dropped last week, according to the civil complaint.

Prosecutors have since confirmed that the charges against Fitzroy were dropped. However, they refused to make any further comments until the sealing of the court file. A spokesman from the city’s law Department also refused to comment on the suit until the end of the case. Fitzroy’s lawyer did not return any phone calls seeking comments on the suit. A spokeswoman from the NYPD also declined to comment due to the pending status of the suit.

In the suit, Fitzroy alleges that she was a victim of false arrest, deprivation of civil rights, unlawful search and seizure, excessive use of force, and assault and battery. She alleges that she has suffered deep and psychological pain as a result of losing her child. Fitzroy hopes to receive monetary damages.

Philly Police Brutality Lawsuit Follows Scathing Justice Report

A new class action lawsuit seeks reforms in the Philadelphia police department following the shooting death of a man during a police stop in December. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a Justice Department report that found the justice-department-reports-philly-policePhilly police shot about one person each week since 2007, with the high rate attributable to mistrust by the public, training flaws and other system-wide problems.

Tanya Brown-Dickerson, the mother of Brandon Tate-Brown, filed the police brutality lawsuit, which asks a judge to put in place the recommended reforms outlined in the Justice Department report. The suit also seeks appointment of an administrator to ensure that city police comply.

Tate-Brown, 26, was fatally shot by a Philadelphia police officer after being stopped in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood for operating his vehicle with the headlights turned off. The district attorney declined to file charges against the officer, ruling that Tate-Brown had been reaching for a gun in the car when he was shot. Both officers involved are back on duty, and the city’s police commissioner has refused to make their names public.

Differing Accounts of the Shooting

Investigators reported that within minutes of officers pulling Tate-Brown over, one officer began firing his weapon during an alleged violent struggle for a stolen and loaded handgun in the car, notes Philly.com.

However, Tate-Brown’s mother contends that officers pulled over the young man for “driving while black.” Tate-Brown was driving through a primarily white neighborhood in a rented, 2014 white Dodge Charger with Florida license plates. Tate-Brown’s mother states that her son was not armed when one of the officer’s bullets struck him in the back of the head.

Justice Department: Numerous Police Shootings

nearly-400-times-philly-officers-fired-at-suspectsNearly 400 times over the last eight years, Philadelphia police officers have fired their weapons at suspects, the Justice Department report noted. Most of the 454 officers involved were on patrol at the times of the shootings, and most of the suspects and officers involved were black, the New York Times reports.

Officers often said they believed the suspects were reaching for weapons, although suspects were actually holding mobile phones or other objects; 59 suspects were not armed at the time they were shot.

Lawsuit Aims for Disclosure

The new lawsuit alleges that police were unjustified in stopping Tate-Brown, that they wrongfully arrested him and that they used excessive force. In addition, police botched the investigation and subsequently covered up the details, the suit contends.

Lawyers for Brown-Dickerson also want the names of the involved officers released, along with additional evidence including surveillance videos. The suit also states that other citizens interacting with police may be in danger because of a persistent lack of training and poor investigation techniques.