Jun 11, 2008 10:40 pm US/Central
NW Side Club Members Sue Cops Over Raid
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Surveillance video from La Familia Motorcycle club in Chicago shows a police raid on May 30. The club is suing over the raid, claiming police never showed a warrant.
CBS
Cops say they were looking for drugs, club members say they were looking for trouble. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports on a surveillance tape at the center of a multimillion dollar lawsuit alleging police misconduct.
It happened at La Familia Motorcycle social club on the city's Northwest Side on the night of May 30. Members said the club was full when police barged in.
It's a building with no markings, no windows on the ground floor, no indication that it houses the La Familia Motorcycle social club, whose members were inside celebrating someone's birthday, when police arrived with a warrant searching for drugs.
In surveillance videotape from the club taken during the raid, you can hear officers crash through the front door, and see the club members immediately running toward the back.
George Becker, an attorney for the club members, said, "They thought that they were all being robbed; somebody set up to rob the club. They ran to the back door in fear."
Becker showed us surveillance tape from four cameras inside the building. One of them showed the police car at the back door blocking his clients' escape. Another showed them being herded back into the building at gunpoint.
Shooting off flash grenades as they went, the SWAT team began their search for what an informant claimed was a big shipment of illegal drugs.
Smoke from the grenades preceded the officers as they searched a basement poolroom. Upstairs, everyone inside was being secured with plastic restraints, men and women alike, before they were searched.
"We're alleging conduct beyond belief involving the women searched and have breasts exposed and vaginal areas exposed in front of men, typical 1983 type of action. Just outrageous conduct involving these policemen," Becker said.
Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said, "We will investigate the matter, but until we had the opportunity to review the facts and do a complete investigation, they are only allegations."
The search of the building, which included officers shooting open locked doors, apparently failed to uncover the drug shipment officers expected to find, though police maintain everything was done properly.
Bond said, "We did have a legal search warrant and certain items of contraband were seized."
The $10 million federal lawsuit accuses police of searching the club at 2514 W. Fullerton without showing a warrant.
The club members also claimed that as much as $3,000 was missing from a safe and a video poker machine. Police said anything taken from the club has been inventoried as evidence.
The club members have yet to file complaints with the Independent Police Review Agency.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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