By JACK BOUBOUSHIAN | Courthouse News | June 24, 2013
CHICAGO – Chicago police officers sodomized a man with a gun, “laugh(ing) hysterically,” until he agreed to buy drugs for the cops in a sting, the man claims in court.
Angel Perez sued Chicago and its police Officer Jorge L. Lopez in Federal Court.
Perez was working as a delivery driver on Oct. 20, 2012, when cops in an unmarked car pulled him over, handcuffed him and took him to the Harrison Street Police Station, he says in the complaint.
There, “Two officers began assaulting the plaintiff with questions regarding robberies and drug dealers in the Taylor Street area,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff responded that he did not know anything about robberies or drug dealings in the Taylor Street area and again and repeatedly requested that the officers call his lawyer. Plaintiff’s lawyer was never contacted and the questioning continued. The officers were particularly interested in why the plaintiff had the telephone number of an individual by the name of ‘Dwayne’ in his telephone.”
Perez claims the police released him after two hours of questioning, but Officer Lopez called him the next day, “told the plaintiff that what took place the night before was a mistake and that he needed the plaintiff to sign some papers so that his car would not be towed. Defendant Lopez instructed the plaintiff to meet him at Al’s Beef on Taylor Street at 3:00 p.m. that day,” the complaint states.
But when Perez arrived at Al’s Beef, an officer with Lopez, known to Perez only as the Sergeant, “grabbed the plaintiff and slammed his head on to the trunk of his car, searched plaintiff, handcuffed plaintiff with his hands behind his back and placed him in the squad car.”
The complaint continues: “Plaintiff was then taken back to the Harrison Street Police station to a second floor room with chairs and a table. Again, plaintiff was handcuffed to a bar, and this time he was also placed in ankle shackles.
“Plaintiff was held against his will in the room for several hours handcuffed and shackled, and not free to leave the custody of the defendants. While in the room, several other officers (approximately six officers) entered the room during the next several hours joining defendant Lopez and the Sergeant threatening the plaintiff with sending him to the Cook County jail to be raped by gang members. Further, that the[y] (the officers) could do whatever they wanted and that they would plant evidence on him and his family members if he continued to refuse to cooperate with them. Still, further that if he did not cooperate they would charge him [with] a conspiracy to obstruct justice. One of the officers in the room identified himself as the ‘Commander.’
“Plaintiff repeatedly requested his lawyer; that request was not acknowledged by the officers.
“The officers wanted the plaintiff to call or text ‘Dwayne’ and set up a drug purchase, but he refused to call or text Dwayne.
“After a period of time refusing to call or text Dwayne, the officers began to pull and contort the plaintiff’s body while he was handcuffed to the wall and shackled at his ankles, causing the plaintiff severe pain. At one point, the Sergeant sat on the plaintiff’s chest and placed his palms on the plaintiff’s eye sockets and pushed hard against them, causing plaintiff severe pain. The Sergeant also drove his elbows into plaintiff’s back and head causing severe pain. Defendant Lopez was in the room at the time and did not intervene.
“In an attempt to contact the outside world, plaintiff agreed to make the call and he attempted to call a friend of his to inform him what was transpiring, at which time an officer took plaintiff’s telephone and hung up the call.
“After several hours of verbal and physical torture, defendant Lopez and the Sergeant were alone in the room with the plaintiff. The officers told plaintiff that if he refused to cooperate with them that they were going to give him a ‘little taste’ of what he would be getting at the Cook County jail. They put plaintiff over a chair and pulled down his pants, and defendant Lopez said, ‘I hear that a big black nigger dick feels like a gun up your ass.’
“Then defendant Lopez and/or the Sergeant, knowing their actions created a strong likelihood of great bodily harm and mental anguish, inserted a cold metal object, believed to be one of officer’s service revolvers, into the plaintiff’s rectum, causing the plaintiff severe pain and humiliation. The two officers laughed hysterically while inserting the object into the plaintiff’s rectum.
“The Sergeant then said ‘I almost blew your brains out.’ The officers told the plaintiff that they would continue to insert the gun into his rectum until he cooperated with them.
“Plaintiff began to cry and agreed to cooperate with the officers.”
Perez called Dwayne and arranged to buy one gram of heroin, according to the complaint.
“The police then brought plaintiff to his car, provided the plaintiff with money to purchase the heroin, a box believed to be a GPS device and an audio recording device to record the transaction.
“Plaintiff completed the purchase from Dwayne for the Chicago Police and returned the drugs and equipment to the police. The officers then wanted plaintiff to sell drugs to Dwayne. Plaintiff told the officers that he would not be involved again with them,” according to the complaint.
Perez claims that Lopez continued to call his cell phone, asking to meet with him again, until Perez contacted the Independent Police Review Authority.
“At no time on either October 20, 2012 or October 21, 2012, prior to plaintiff’s seizure and torture, did the plaintiff commit a crime,” Perez says in the complaint.
Perez seeks punitive damages for excessive force, failure to intervene and emotional distress. He is represented by Dennis DeCaro with Kupets & DeCaro.
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