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Jul 26, 2007 6:26 pm US/Central
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Lawsuit: Cops Beat Men For Yelling About Driving
Fourth Man Says Officers Beat Him After He Told Them To Stop Beating Others
CBS 2's Joanie Lum and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Four Chicago Police officers are accused in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday of beating four men who yelled and gestured at them when their unmarked squad car allegedly nearly hit them in the Uptown neighborhood.
The lawsuit alleges that an unmarked squad car ran a stop sign on Jan. 7 at Clark Street and Leland Avenue in the city's Uptown neighborhood, nearly striking Jacob Butko, 28, Shaun Meesak, 28, and Ruben Vazquez, 27 as they left a party at Carol's Pub.
After their friend made a gesture toward the car, they say the plainclothes police inside responded with violence. Two police officers allegedly exited the vehicle and confronted them. The lawsuit contends two other police officers in a second vehicle then joined in the altercation.
"Put me up against the fence, started hitting me from behind, the face and neck, broke my glasses, swinging wildly," said plaintiff Ruben Vasquez at a news conference Thursday.
"I got his hand off my neck once, he came back even harder and I couldn't talk or breathe," said beating victim Shaun Meesak.
Jacob Butko used his cell phone to take a picture of himself while in police custody. He's part of the lawsuit but did not attend the news conference.
A news release from the law firm Loevy & Loevy said the officers "allegedly lined up Meesak and Vazquez against a fence and punched them repeatedly even though they offered no resistance." The release also said Butko was thrown against a parked car and punched repeatedly despite not offering resistance.
Attorneys said Derrick Peoples, 29, exited a bar at the corner and told the officers to stop, prompting one of the officers to threaten to arrest him. Attorneys alleged the officer followed Peoples inside the bar, pointed his weapon in Peoples' face and then dragged him out of the bar, where he was beaten by police officers and his head was slammed against the sidewalk.
Peoples says he asked one of the cops what was happening.
"He walks up to me, draws a gun at my face, says get your f-ing hands up, you're going to jail," Peoples said.
Attorneys said Butko, Meesak and Peoples were all taken to the Belmont District police station and placed in separate interrogation rooms. Attorneys claimed the men were handcuffed to the walls and threatened with more beatings.
A witness shot cell phone video in which you can see an unmarked police car and some men standing against a fence. Attorneys admit the video isn't clear but they hope to enhance it even more.
"The only reason they thought they could get away with it is because the system of discipline is broken, it's dysfunctional. It doesn't work," said attorney Jon Loevy.
Three of the four alleged victims were charged and went to trial. In March they pled guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
Chicago police say this is a matter for the Office of Professional Standards, which did receive complaints and is investigating.
Police News Affairs Director Monique Bond said the officers' status remains unchanged pending the outcome of the investigation.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of several allegations of excessive or unwarranted use of force by Chicago Police officers.
The most notorious case is that of Officer Anthony Abbate, who was allegedly caught on video beating a female bartender half his size after she refused to serve him more liquor while off duty. Abbate is facing criminal charges of aggravated battery.
Last week, the City Council approved a plan under which the Office of Professional Standards will report to Mayor Richard M. Daley rather than to the police superintendent.
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